As far as ribbon cuttings go, the one held Wednesday afternoon for Aurora’s new Hollywood Casino was a sure bet to be more spectacular than most.

And it didn’t disappoint. Accompanied by booming drums and crashing cymbals, Chinese lion dancers zigzagged through the crowd of around 160 invited guests  – a fitting symbol for a project that’s taken countless twists and more than a few turns to reach the finish line.

The event was the culmination of a project that’s been nearly a decade in the making: a gleaming new gambling and entertainment facility that owner PENN Entertainment refers to as one of its finest.

“This stunning new $360 million property,” declared PENN Entertainment CEO and President Jay Snowden, is “opening a new era that solidifies our commitment to Aurora and Chicagoland.”

The city had long awaited this permanent land-based casino to replace the aging riverboat operation that opened its doors 33 years ago on the Fox River in downtown Aurora. The new facility features 1,200 gaming positions, a state of the art retail sportsbook, a 226-room hotel, full service spa and a 12,000-square-foot event center with meeting areas, not to mention top-notch restaurants those of us who aren’t big gamblers are eager to visit.

“I’m thrilled to celebrate this huge milestone for Hollywood Casino,” Greg Moore, vice president and general manager of Hollywood Casino Aurora, told his audience. “This will bring new energy to Aurora, our longtime home.

“We have made Hollywood Casino a must-visit destination for the region.”

According to Moore, the casino has already begun booking concerts, galas and community events. And in a lighter moment, he let anyone who might be planning a wedding know that he’s “now an ordained minister” in the state of Illinois.

Then came a tangible example of the casino’s commitment to the community: Moore presented a check for $107,000 – the entire earnings from the casino’s gaming test day – to benefit nonprofit partners such as Hesed House, CASA Kane County,  Rebuilding Together Aurora and the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry.

Among those applauding the opening was former Kane County Board member/city official Ron Ford, who was involved in the process when riverboat gambling “first brought new life” to downtown Aurora in 1993.

“It’s another chapter just beginning,” he said. “It is bringing opportunities we can’t even envision right now. I’m excited as I wait to see the results. It’s going to be fun.”

That optimism extended beyond Aurora’s city limits.

“What a beautiful facility,” said Margaret Perreault, president and CEO of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce, noting the casino is also a member of this group and a strong supporter of local initiatives that benefit her city.

“Oh, we’re so excited to have this here in our community,” she said. “… it will bring such energy to the area.”

There were many business, political and corporate VIPs on hand, including Aurora Mayor John Laesch, who did not speak at the event but stood quietly in the crowd, listening and taking pictures of the glitzy surroundings and boisterous activities.

The optics were hard to ignore.

As an alderman at-large, Laesch – who went on to defeat Richard Irvin in the 2025 mayoral election – was often at odds with the project and the development agreements surrounding it. He was, in fact, the lone vote against the incentives package and publicly criticized the city’s financial support for the project, a deal he considered too favorable to the developer and casino operator at the taxpayers’ expense.

Of course, it’s hardly unusual in politics that those cutting the ribbons are not always those who laid the foundations. In this case, the groundwork goes back to 2017 when then-new Mayor Irvin and his Chief of Staff Alex Alexandrou flew to Pennsylvania to try to convince PENN Entertainment to reinvest in its Aurora operation with a land-based casino.

It was not an easy task – the pandemic sidelined it for a while – and included city leaders playing a significant behind-the-scenes role in pushing for the new Illinois law that allowed riverboat casinos to move onto dry land.

“We did not take no for an answer,” Irvin told me when I asked about all those twists and turns it took to get to Wednesday’s grand opening.

PENN Entertainment Vice President of Operations Rafael Verde pointed out just how important that working partnership was, although, notably, neither the former or current mayors’ names were mentioned during any of the speeches by company officials.

While Irvin did not attend the ribbon-cutting, he nevertheless was included in the celebration. On Monday he received a personal tour of the facility and dined with corporate leaders at the high-end Sorella by Giada restaurant at the casino. He also took part in VIP activities later on Wednesday as the casino welcomed a large and enthusiastic public through its doors.

Alexandrou, who told me he’s now consulting and spending part of his time in Greece, did attend the Wednesday afternoon festivities, insisting he “would not have missed it” for anything.

“This is one of the most inspirational projects in Aurora in decades,” he said, also noting the importance of the old casino from a revenue perspective that included “the millions and millions” of dollars which flowed to nonprofits.

“Moving to this spectacular Vegas-style casino full of amenities is going to be a great draw,” Alexandrou predicted. “I’m just so grateful and proud of all the efforts and collaboration of PENN and the city all these years.”

“It is,” he said, “just amazing.”

dcrosby@tribpub.com