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SOUTH BELOIT — Prospects look good for a casino with an indoor water park to be built in Beloit, Wisconsin, in time for a 2021 opening, backers of the project said at a news conference Thursday.

An Illinois legislator said the project would hurt Rockford.

Officials of the city of Beloit and Ho-Chunk Nation, a Native American tribe that runs several gaming operations in Wisconsin, shared results of a November economic impact study that shows the $405.5 million project would employ 1,500 people. The meeting was held at the Nature at the Confluence Learning Center in South Beloit.

Beloit City Manager Lori Luther said she expects the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs to OK the project by the end of next year. President Donald Trump’s administration is “looking at creating jobs,” she said. The casino project has been in the works since 2012, she said.

“It looks very promising that progress is going to be made in moving forward,” said Wilfrid Cleveland, president of the Ho-Chunk Nation. “The Trump administration seems a lot more aggressive in wanting to get things done.”

Gov. Scott Walker is expected to consider approval of the casino in 2019, Luther said. Plans call for construction to begin in 2020, with the casino opening in 2021, she said. Plans also call for a 300-room hotel, convention center and restaurants.

Luther said the city would receive $3.5 million a year in payments from the Ho-Chunk and Rock County would receive $1.5 million a year. “This is a potential game-changer for our entire community,” she said.

If a casino and water park are built in Beloit, Rockford will suffer, said Illinois Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford.

“It would devastate Rockford,” he said. “That would shut Magic Waters down. They would have Tier 1 concerts; that would wipe the Coronado and BMO (Harris Bank Center) out. And they would have a convention center.”

Syverson said the Beloit casino project still faces hurdles gaining federal and state approvals.

There’s been talk for years about Rockford obtaining approval for a casino from the state of Illinois. Syverson said the Illinois legislature is poised to approve one if Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan will call for a vote on the matter. “He has not said why” he won’t do so, Syverson said.

Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesman, said this in response: “The Speaker has recused himself on gaming issues so he plays no role.”

The potential site for a Rockford casino is the now-closed Clock Tower Resort on East State Street. An Interstate 90 exit feeds into the entrance to the property, which is in the hands of local investors.

A Beloit casino would be located on 60 acres off Interstate 90 near the intersection of Colley and Willowbrook roads.

Robert Mudd, executive director of the business department of the Ho-Chunk Nation, said that the minimum wage for the jobs at the casino and water park would be $10, and that a “Cadillac” package of health-care benefits would be offered.

Beloit would be the Ho-Chunks’ largest gaming operation. Most of the employees at the others, around 80 percent, are not members of the tribe.

The water park would be 40,000 square feet. The Kalahari Resorts water park in Wisconsin Dells, at 125,000 square feet, is the largest indoor water park in Wisconsin.

Contact Georgette Braun: (815) 987-1331; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; @GeorgetteBraun.