Gamblers were lined up at 8 a.m. Saturday to be among the first to play at Bally’s Chicago. (WTTW News)
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Chicagoans and tourists feeling lucky can play 800 slot games and 56 table games in the century-old Shriner’s temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave., with its distinctive domed ceilings and stained-glass windows.

Bally’s opened a temporary casino at Medinah Temple, 600 N. Wabash Ave. (WTTW News)
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Chicagoans and tourists feeling lucky can play 800 slot games and 56 table games in the century-old Shriner’s temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave., with its distinctive domed ceilings and stained-glass windows.

“The Bean” is pictured in Millennium Park in Aug. 2023. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Starting this Tuesday and continuing through the spring of 2024, construction will be taking place in Grainger Plaza, the area of Millennium Park that houses the more formally named “Cloud Gate.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks to reporters at a news conference celebrating the continued recovery of the tourism industry on July 10, 2023. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)

On Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the state’s legislative leadership and representatives of the hospitality industry announced that hotels in Illinois saw record revenues in fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30.

A Chicago landmark since 2001, the Medinah Temple was most recently home to a Bloomingdale’s furniture store and is now set to become a temporary casino. (WTTW News)
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It is not clear exactly when Bally’s will be able to open a temporary casino in the century-old Shriner’s temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave., with its distinctive domed ceilings and stained-glass windows. A Chicago landmark since 2001, the temple was most recently home to a Bloomingdale’s furniture store.

(NASCAR / Facebook)

The Black Crowes and Charley Crockett round out the music lineup for Chicago Street Race Weekend, July 1-2.

The proposed casino is set to be built on the Chicago Tribune printing plant and newsroom site near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. (WTTW News)
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Bally’s Chicago casino is set to have 3,400 slots and 173 table games in addition to an exhibition hall, 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater and 11 restaurants. The development will include a 2,100-square-foot park and walking path along the river and a three-level underground parking garage, according to the plans released by city officials.

The proposed casino is set to be built on the Chicago Tribune printing plant and newsroom site near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. (WTTW News)
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The $1.74 billion proposal still needs the approval of the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built along the Chicago River near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

(WTTW News)

Two Chicago high-rises hit the market, leaving more than 700 downtown apartments up for sale. And a loan tied to a distressed hotel in River North sells at a steep discount.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

It’s the sixth year in a row the city has landed in the top spot. More than 240,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers from all over the country ranked Chicago as their favorite city to visit.

Ford factory assembly line. (WTTW News)

Ford announces it’s cutting thousands of jobs, two local hotel sales mark some of the biggest in the hospitality market since the start of the pandemic and a new app helps homeowners rent individual rooms.

(WTTW News)

The downtown course will include famed areas of Chicago, including Lake Shore Drive, Michigan Avenue and South Columbia Drive, where the start/finish line and pit road will be located directly in front of Buckingham Fountain.

(WTTW News)

Summer travel is heating up. A survey commissioned by the American Hotel & Lodging Association shows that nearly 70% of Americans are planning to travel this summer. But what about tourism here in Chicago?

Passengers get a COVID-19 test at Heathrow Airport in London, Nov. 29, 2021. (AP Photo / Frank Augstein, File)
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The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Bally’s casino and resort would be built on what is now the Chicago Tribune printing plant and newsroom near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. (Provided)
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The $1.73 billion proposal now heads to the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built along the Chicago River near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

Bally’s casino and resort would be built on what is now the Chicago Tribune printing plant and newsroom near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. (Provided)
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The Chicago City Council is expected to give its final stamp of approval to the Bally’s plan on Wednesday, sending the proposal to the Illinois Gaming Board, which must license Bally’s to operate the Chicago casino set to be built near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.