For nearly a year, Peoria and East Peoria have been embroiled in a fierce fight over the Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino's future.
In a letter to the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB), Peoria Mayor Rita Ali heightened tensions by requesting that Boyd Gaming, the company that has owned and operated the riverboat that has been situated on the southwestern bank of Peoria Lake and the Illinois River for decades, sell its Illinois gaming license if it is unwilling to construct a land-based casino in the actual Peoria County seat.
"If Boyd is not prepared to develop land-based gaming and related facilities in Peoria, we ask that the IGB require Boyd to sell the Par-A-Dice gaming license to another casino operator that is prepared to develop a land-based gaming facility in Peoria,” Ali said in a February letter.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Peoria Journal Star was able to get the letter. A group of local investors had opened the riverboat in 1991, and Boyd purchased it in 1996 for $163 million in cash. There are now about 550 slot machines, 18 table games, and a FanDuel Sportsbook at the establishment.
The 1991 Accord
Following the legalization of casino gambling by state lawmakers in 1990, Peoria town leaders agreed that any type of riverboat gambling would take place in East Peoria when they attempted to purchase a riverboat. However, a physical casino would have to be located in Peoria if land-based casinos were ever approved. In 2019, Illinois legalized land-based casinos.
East Peoria retains all other local tax revenue generated at the hotel site, such as sales, hotel, and food and beverage taxes, while Peoria and East Peoria split the 5% tax on Par-A-Dice casino earnings that is designated as the "local share."
During the Las Vegas-based company's second-quarter earnings call last month, Keith Smith, president and CEO of Boyd Gaming, acknowledged that a plan to "replace our existing riverboat casino at Par-A-Dice" was nearing completion.
Ali notified state gaming authorities of the cities' Intergovernmental Agreement, expressing concern that East Peoria is planning to preserve the casino by finding a method to keep referring to the gaming establishment as a riverboat while permitting it on land.
"It is important to note that it would be frivolous for Boyd or the City of East Peoria to attempt to manipulate the definition of ‘riverboat’ and/or ‘land-based’ for purposes of the above provisions of the Intergovernmental Agreement … at issue,” Ali said. “It is, and always has been, the intention of all concerned that if Par-A-Dice gaming operations were to move off of the existing moored vessel in East Peoria to a facility on land, those land-based operations must be in Peoria.”
Out of the 17 casinos in Illinois, the Par-A-Dice riverboat is the third smallest, measuring only 26,116 square feet.
A New Facility Is Required
Over the past ten years, Par-A-Dice has seen a sharp drop in gross gaming revenue (GGR), as previously documented by Casino.org.
The riverboat brought in $82.5 million in 2006. That figure dropped to $72.8 million by 2019. GGR dropped to $60.5 million last year from $60.7 million in 2022.
In 2025, the casino's problems have persisted. GGR was $31.11 million for the first half of 2025, which was $57,457 less than the same period in 2024.