Danville’s Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr stood in the center at 204 Eastgate Drive Tuesday afternoon as ten ground-breakers with shovels in their hands each heaped out a scoop of sand to officially begin construction on the Golden Nugget Casino.
Nearby, destruction and clean-up of one of the buildings being torn down at the location to make room for the casino were already underway. The groundbreaking ceremony was emceed by former State Rep Lou Lang, speaking on behalf of Golden Nugget, Wilmorite Management Group, and Danville Development, LLC; in addition to speakers Tom Wilmot, Jr from Wilmorite; and Jerry Del Prette from Golden Nugget.
(L to R) Speakers are Tuesday’s Golden Nugget groundbreaking: Former State Rep Lou Lang, Danville Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr; Tom Wilmot, Jr from Wilmorite, and Jerry Del Prette from Golden Nugget.
Mayor Williams thanked numerous people, including those who served on his Casino Steering Committee. One of which was Danville Alderman Mike Puhr, and it’s been quite a ride.
AUDIO: We were all together talking about a casino; the mayor and myself we were up in Chicago; then the pandemic hit, and we missed our meeting with the Gaming Board because the state shut down. But now, two years later, we are happy to see this come to fruition.
For Mayor Williams, this is a journey he’s been on since moving to Danville at age eight, and hearing something about a “riverboat” coming to town. And now that a casino is coming after all these years, yes, he’s hearing lot of inquiries about joining the Golden Nugget Casino in Danville, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
AUDIO: I’m very happy to say that we are incredibly busy with positive movement versus negative movement. And so that’s great; we’re going to continue to grow and develop, and I just look forward to all of the folks who are going to come to Danville, and those who are here in Danville and Vermilion County, who are going to make investment to make this the best possible place to live, work, invest, and play.
(Left) Danville City Council gets their turn to dig, (Right) Police Chief Christopher Yates and Vermilion Advantage President/CEO Tim Dudley adjust their hard hats for the initial groundbreaking.
Another person who’s seen this long road, Vermilion County Board Chairman Larry Baughn.
AUDIO: This is history in the making. It’s been talked about since I was in junior high school, I can remember. And it’s just a great day for Danville, a great day for Vermilion County.
Vermilion Advantage CEO Tim Dudley was part of the groundbreaking crew, with chamber director Nicole Van Hyfte cheering he and everyone else on.
AUDIO: It is so exciting just to see everybody out here, to see the big equipment working. This is about to change Danville, and it’s incredible to be a part of. We’re really looking forward to the development in this area out in Eastgate, and we’re just really, really excited to be here today.
(Center) DACC President Dr. Stephen Nacco and DACC staff members enjoy the special groundbreaking day.
Also present, two people Mayor Williams gave special thanks to, State Rep Mike Marron and Senator Scott Bennett.
AUDIO: Just a testament to this community and all the work that a lot people have put in over the last, you know, 20-30 years; way back to when they first looked at the possibility of getting a casino in Danville. It’s pretty awesome to be here today and be part of it.
AUDIO: Danville has waited a long, long time to see their casino groundbreaking; a lot longer than I’ve been in public life. But the fact that we were able to get that done; Representative Marron and myself were able to make sure that Danville stayed on that list. This has been very special and a long time coming. And we’re looking forward to finding a lot of additional revenue for Vermilion County.
The road is now officially on to the planned opening of Danville’s Golden Nugget Casino, in March of 2023.
