The small village of Stickney is attempting to win the Illinois only available casino license, and if successful they will expand the racetrack to also home the states new casino.

Tuesday was the last day the state was accepting offers on the casino license. There were many offers from many groups. The Illinois Gaming Board will soon be releasing a list of everyone who bid on the license, what their bid was and where they proposed to build the casino.

The next step will be for the board to announce the three finalists and give them all a chance to make one last bid. A winner is expected to be announced before the end of this year.

The Hawthorne group's choice of putting the casino and the racetrack together is a growing trend around the country.

The plans reveal a desire to make the area into more of an entertainment park then just a racetrack and casino. The plans show a hotel, several restaurants, movie theaters, a bowling ally, an outdoor amphitheater and a water park to go along with the casino and horse track. The former coach for the Chicago Bears, Mike Ditka will make an appearance at a news conference about the project and is rumored to be part of the restaurant and the resort,

Since 2000 this license has been won twice, but the casinos were never built due to legal problems. Those problems have now all been settled, but the deal is not expected to fetch what it would have from the prior deals due to the current slumping economy, the states high gaming tax and a statewide ban on smoking in all public places.