Visitors filed in under Medinah Temple’s old stained glass windows, offset now by a tall red sign reading “We live to play Chicago.”Īs a second door opened around 8:20 a.m., Travis Clarke, director of public safety at Bally’s Chicago, walked up and down the line pumping his hands in the air.Ĭaicco had no trouble getting into the casino and finding a spot to play, he said. Modern casino amenities include six new brightly lit washrooms.ĭespite traffic and crowding concerns, lines were moving quickly by 8:15 a.m. Historic touches remain, including an atrium looking up to the ornate rotunda lined with inset stained glass windows. Now the three-story, block-long building on North Wabash Avenue is filled with nearly 800 slot machines and 56 gaming tables, an expansive blue-lit center bar, two restaurants and a coffee shop. More recently, it had been a vacant furniture store.īally’s Chicago had been renovating the 130,000-square-foot Medinah Temple since January. The quest led to an unlikely temporary destination - the landmarked, 111-year-old Moorish-style amphitheater, perhaps best known for hosting the annual Shrine Circus. Chicago has been looking to land a casino for more than three decades.
