You'll feel the excitement the moment you enter Casino Rock Island. Explore three unique gaming settings, each offering a comfortable, player-friendly experience. The glamorous surroundings and supurb, friendly staff make every visit a pleasure.
During the 1950's D. James Jumer was a successful franchisee and corporate officer of Chicken Delight Restaurants in Detroit, Michigan and Washington, D.C. In addition, he had successfully developed an exclusive restaurant and club in the Costa del Sol of Spain. Originally from Duluth Minnesota, Mr. Jumer became eager to return to his Midwest roots. So, in 1960, he acquired Kramer's Restaurant in Peoria, Illinois, having selected this community due to its thriving business and energetic pace. He successfully converted and expanded Kramer's into the Jumer's Castle Lodge, Peoria, Illinois.

Since that early beginning, the business sphere of the Jumer organization expanded to include Jumer's Castle Lodge, Bettendorf, Iowa, built in 1973; the Castle Lodge of Urbana, Illinois; and in 1988, the Jumer's Chateau opened in Bloomington, Illinois. A former Sheraton Hotel in Galesburg, Illinois was acquired in 1982 and was renovated to become Jumer's Continental Inn.

In 1988, Mr. Jumer, now with a successful chain of hotels in operation, expanded his business ventures by constructing The Peoria Boatworks Complex. This unique entertainment complex featured the Spirit of Peoria, an excursion boat with restaurant facilities seating over 400, that operated daily excursions along the Illinois River. The excursion boat was complemented by two permanently moored tug boats. One vessel was the Katie Hooper. This tug boat was converted into a restaurant and the second tug, the Belle Reynolds, was converted to a nautical museum. This development greatly enhanced the Peoria waterfront and was strongly endorsed by the City Council and the citizens of Peoria. A year later in 1989, the state of Iowa became the first state in the union to allow riverboat casino gaming. This precipitated the state of Illinois to pass similar legislation and provided the opportunity for Mr. Jumer to begin a new career in casino gaming.

Riverboat gaming became operational on April 1, 1991 in the Quad Cities. The cities of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa were the first communities to offer this new entertainment experience. One year later, in March of 1992, the Rock Island Boatworks, featuring the Casino Rock Island, began its gaming cruises.

The Rock Island Boatworks borrowed it's facilities concept from the successful Peoria Boatworks Complex. Located in Rock Island, Illinois, the Boatworks is a series of four connected individual floating vessels. They are the Casino Rock Island Riverboat Casino, the Ockerson, the T.G. Gerow and the Effie Afton Tugboat. The last three vessels are all permanently moored. The Casino Rock Island Riverboat and the Ockerson are utilized as a casino. The T.G.Gerow houses the primary Administrative Offices and the Effie Afton Tugboat is a restaurant for the project. The Boatworks currently employs 457 people with a projected total reaching approximately 800 within 3-5 years, if a new casino project replaces the existing casino and support vessels. In 2000, the Boatworks had 763,216 admissions and recorded $31,086,141 in A.G.R.

Casino Rock Island has been a successful casino operation and has had a dramatic impact on the City of Rock Island. The Jumer operation has made a concerted effort to work with the businesses in the local community, and as a result, downtown Rock Island is now known as "The Rock Island Arts and Entertainment District." The District is an alive, vibrant place to enjoy night life as well as additional retailing opportunities which are available during the day. There have been approximately 70 new or expanded businesses in downtown Rock Island since the Casino Rock Island opened for business in March of 1992.

During the history of the company, numerous awards have been deservedly won by the organization, such as the Four Star and Four Diamond awards from Mobil and AAA. Midwest Living Magazine has selected the Peoria Lodge as one of the best hotels in the Midwest. In 1999, Casino Rock Island was given the Hospitality Award of the Year from the Quad Cities Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

Casino Rock Island is a member of the Quad Cities Convention and Visitor's Bureau and assists on the bureau's Marketing Retreat Committee.

The casino remains a participant in guiding the development of The District. Although "The District" is to most Quad Citians and tourists a geographical entertainment destination, it is also the name of the not-for-profit civic organization that markets the area by conducting special events, advertising and assisting in the attracting of new business to the downtown. Each year Casino Rock Island has contributed to helping The District Board of Directors market the area through special event sponsorships and advertising.

Many of the District's restaurants and retail outlets were invited to participate in the casino's unique EnterFunMent Xtra Players Club. The club offers vouchers called Bonus Dollars to players. These Bonus Dollars are earned through play and replace the normal "comps" provided by casinos everywhere, to their players. The program allows the player to use their vouchers at local participating businesses as cash. The business then invoices the casino for payment of the vouchers used. This program helps inject over a quarter of a million dollars into small local businesses and provides a fertile ground to develop new customers for many of these business participants.

Casino Rock Island continues to take an active leadership role in governing the District organization. The casino lends its support to various community groups by serving on organizational boards such as the Development Association of Rock Island and Downtown 2000 Board of Directors. Casino management personnel serve as members of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Hotel and Hospitality Association.

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