MARION -- Only one step remains before work can officially begin on the resort and casino at Walker's Bluff.
"The best is yet to come," Cynde Bunch told over 100 people gathered in the board room at the Williamson County Courthouse Annex Friday morning.
After meeting the Walker's Bluff team that will make Bunch's dream a reality, the Williamson County Board approved the $180 million project. That approval includes plans for a temporary casino facility, as well as a permanent casino.
The temporary casino could be operational in a little more than a year. All that remains before the physical work can begin is approval of the project by the state.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 690 in June, paving the way for Cynde and Dave Bunch to move forward with their vision to expand Walker's Bluff from a winery to a destination resort and casino.
"I wouldn't have had the guts to do what she's done, but she had a vision and stuck to it," said Williamson County Commissioner Brent Gentry. "Cynde never flinched. She and Dave stuck to it."
Cynde and her team made multiple trips to Springfield over the past six years, trying to secure the needed gaming license that would allow the project to be completed.
"Years of hard work and dedication have brought all of us here for the next step," said Cynde, as she began her team's presentation to the board. "In the past six years, our team at Walker's Bluff has learned more about the gaming and hospitality industries than we'd ever imagined ... and we've met the most wonderful friends at every turn."
Some of those friends are the Bunch's new partners in the project, the Kehl Family of Elite Casino Resorts of Iowa.
"They may be from Iowa, but they could easily pass for Southern Illinoisans with their warmth, generosity and work ethic," Cynde said.
Ken Bonnet, chief operating officer and board member for Elite Casino Resorts, gave a brief history of the Kehl family business. After owning restaurants, the family bought a small excursion riverboat that traveled from Dubuque to Davenport and grew the company to four riverboats.
When riverboat gambling came to Iowa in the late 1980s, the company found a unique solution for the law that casino gaming floors must be located over water. Building Riverside Casino in the middle of a cornfield, they put the gaming floor over water-filled bladders. The state dropped the water requirement a year after that casino opened.
Elite went on to open the Grand Falls Casino Resort in Larchwood, Iowa and the Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport.
The Kehl family shares Cynde's vision for locally-sourced products, buying 97 percent of its products in Iowa.
"I believe this is one gigantic opportunity to take Walker's Bluff as it exists, add a casino and turn it into one fantastic operation," Bonnet said.
Dave and Cynde want to do just that.
"Early on, we pledged to use Southern Illinois labor, services and products first," said Cynde. "You can see that this room is already filled with members of our hardworking team, from Southern Illinois."
Walker's Bluff Chief Financial Officer Omar Garcia, explained the projected numbers for the project.
The total cost to build all phases of the project is estimated at $180 million. The annual revenue is expected to be $63 million.
The project will create 1,010 construction jobs. Garcia said 890 of those are expected to be filled by residents of this region. People living in other areas of Illinois will fill the remaining jobs.
The annual tax revenue is projected at $4.2 million.
The Walker's Bluff Casino Resort is expected to employ 330 people in year three, with 88 percent of those being residents of Perry, Jackson, Williamson, and Jefferson counties.
Mohammed Lawal of Lawal Scott Erickson Architects, a Minneapolis-based firm, told the board that he has incorporated local natural elements, like that of the stone on the sign, into the design of the resort.
Describing his first visit to the location, Lawal also said even the parking area will mimic the vineyard, with rows of green among the parking rows.
"It is designed to connect natural elements with an upscale design," Lawal said.
Lawal said the design also incorporates several environmental and sustainability goals, such as stormwater storage, the use of indigenous plants, and geothermal heating and cooling systems.
"I've always seen Southern Illinois as something special, and we need to open up to the world," Cynde said.
Commissioner Jim Marlo agreed.
"This is a bright shining spot for not only Williamson County, but for all of Southern Illinois."
Board chairman Ron Ellis said that Cynde's vision is represented in the slides of the presentation.
"Her vision is tremendous," he said. "I don't know if I would have the perseverance to stick through it."
Cynde renewed her pledge to bring economic prosperity to Southern Illinois, by creating a destination resort on her family's property.
"We are going to show the Midwest what tourism and economic development are all about," she said. "Walker's Bluff Resort Casino will be much more than just a casino because truly, the best is yet to come."
