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ROCKFORD — A group of investors that includes the CEO of Ringland-Johnson Construction is in talks to potentially buy the iconic Clock Tower Resort & Conference Center, which would be razed and replaced with a casino and hotel if state lawmakers approve a gaming expansion.

Clock Tower Resort, built in the 1960s and for years the city's premier hotel and banquet destination, has fallen into disrepair following three ownership changes in the past decade. Retail tenants have fled the sprawling property, and the city recently condemned the hotel for a slew of building code violations.

Ringland-Johnson President and CEO Brent Johnson said he and a group of local and out-of-town investors — he declined to name them — had spent the past two years studying the logistics of obtaining a casino license and developing a casino, hotel and retail complex along or near Interstate 90 in the Rockford area.

Development of a casino at the Clock Tower Resort site would require Illinois lawmakers to approve — and Gov. Bruce Rauner to sign — legislation that would give Rockford a casino license.

Last month, a code hearing officer ordered Clock Tower Resort owner Beltway Hospitality, based in Houston, to pay a $229,500 fine for the city building code violations. Representatives of the company asked the hearing officer in a motion filed March 31 to reduce the fine to $17,000 to help expedite the sale of the property.

"While no closing date has been scheduled, the contracted buyer has indicated its willingness to close on the sale of the property and to take title within three weeks," according to the motion Beltway Hospitality filed with the city. The matter is scheduled for an April 27 code hearing at City Hall.

The Clock Tower Resort “is one of the properties our local casino investors group is considering,” Johnson said. He declined to speak further on the matter.

The prospect of casino expansion in Illinois may be a long shot. Bills are floated every year in Springfield that would award Chicago, Rockford and other downstate communities a casino license. But every year, the bill fails to pass or win the governor's signature.

This year, a gaming expansion bill that would give Rockford a casino license is part of a "grand bargain" package of 10 bills intended to end a two-year state budget impasse. In addition to gaming expansion, the package includes an income tax increase, a property tax freeze, workers' compensation reform, and minor pension and procurement reforms.

Language in each of the bills, which were crafted by leaders in the Illinois Senate, requires that all of the bills must pass or none can pass.

The Senate approved the casino bill in early March, but the legislation remains on hold while lawmakers debate the other bills that are part of the grand bargain. The casino bill, if approved, would permit casinos in Chicago, Rockford and Danville and in Lake, Cook and Williamson counties.

Lawmakers adjourn their spring session on May 31. Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, a sponsor of the gaming bill, said he and other Senate lawmakers may float the casino expansion proposal — and pension and procurement reforms that are part of the grand bargain — as separate bills in the next 30 days if no progress is made on the larger package of budget fixes.

Syverson said Johnson has talked with him about the prospect of a Rockford casino.

“Maybe a month ago he asked me about the likelihood of the gaming bill passing and he mentioned he was talking to some people who thought the Clock Tower would be a better place for a casino than somewhere up on Riverside (Boulevard),” Syverson said. “And I told him I thought that would be a good idea because I don't know of any other way that you're going to save the Clock Tower hotel.

"If not for a casino, who's going to have the money to tear most of that hotel property down and do something with it?”

Isaac Guerrero: 815-987-1361;  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; @isaac_rrs