ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Hard Rock Casino Rockford announced that a 101-year-old “gambling enthusiast,” nicknamed “Queen Antoinette”, will be the first patron through the doors when the new casino opens Labor Day weekend.
Hard Rock Rockford said Antoinette Lamia was invited to attend the casino’s grand opening.
Last June, the company announced it expected to open its permanent casino on Labor Day 2024.
The Hard Rock Casino is under construction at the site of the former Clock Tower Resort on E. State Street, near the I-90 interchange.
The company converted the former Giovanni’s convention center, at 610 N Bell School Road, into a temporary casino, called Rockford Casino: A Hard Rock Opening Act.
In the temporary casino’s second year of operation, the Illinois Gaming Board’s report showed that 613,000 visited last year, besting 2022’s 463,000 and $55 million annual haul, an increase of 26%.
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