Steel continues to dominate the Bally’s Casino construction site in River West, as crews from the Chicago Community Builders Collective continue to progress. In the six weeks or so since our last visit, the iron framework has risen from a single level to the seventh story at the north end of the site.
There was activity on the site Sunday the 16th, both human and Manitowoc red beast. It seems redundant to remind you that the deadline for opening the casino is December 2026, but that certainly seems to have created an urgency factor. And earlier delays in construction during demolitions, one from debris falling in the river and one from <checks notes> utilizing the wrong dumpster provider, made that completion date feel even more urgent.
Bally’s Chicago Casino is a design by HKS. Between the 34-story hotel and the casino building, the resort will include 3,500 gaming positions, half a dozen restaurants, including one on the rooftop, cafes, a food hall, a 3,000-seat theater, plus a rooftop pool, spa, and fitness center. Public amenities include 2,000 feet of accessible riverwalk and a two-acre public park.
Sunday, when we looked at the casino project’s most recent permit activity, you were promised more photos of construction. Here now, a voluminous pictorial update from the third weekend of November 2025:
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Under the watchful eye of the Spirit Of Progress, recently retuned to her pedestal atop the Montgomery Ward Building. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
As far as one can walk on Chicago Avenue as the bridge is replaced. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Rendering of Bally’s Chicago Casino and hotel tower by HKS
Sadly for construction enthusiasts, Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street are now closed to pedestrians, eliminating two great vantage points for watching the casino build. A north-facing sidewalk on the outbound lanes of the Kennedy feeder bridge over the river would be have been a great place to stand watch.
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The Chi Ave bridge has been closed for over 7 weeks now and zero work has started on it. I doubt CDOT will get that done in time for the casino opening.
Great pictures Daniel