Bally’s casino project debris cleaned from river, demolition still on hold

Demolition debris from the future site of the Bally’s casino has been removed from the Chicago River after a wall collapsed and sent material into the water earlier this month, the company said Friday.

However, the demolition of the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center printing plant, 77 W. Chicago Ave., is still on hold pending government review of the incident. The site is being prepared for the future Bally’s Chicago Casino.

Perlite, a material used in building insulation, spilled into the river about two weeks ago and was carried upstream, making it difficult to immediately capture it all.

“We worked diligently to remove all the perlite that we are aware of,” Bally’s and its contractor, Chicago Community Builders Collective, said in a statement to the Sun-Times.

The companies have said that the perlite that spilled is not toxic.

The material was spotted as far north as the Wild Mile in Lincoln Park. One resident near the Freedom Center described the material as a massive “white cloud” that floated up the river.

The companies said they surveyed the river up to Wild Mile where they received a report of material floating. As of Friday, there were no more signs of the substance, and Bally's and the contractor said they've received no further complaints.

City officials remain on the work site as demolition is paused.

The city is “working with the contractor on the corrective action plan,” said City Hall spokeswoman Erin Connelly. “We haven’t determined when demolition will restart.”

The companies say the site is safe and ready for work to begin again.

The accident occurred Dec. 14 and drew federal, state and local authorities to the scene.

So far, no citations have been issued related to the incident.

The demolition is considered an “environmentally complex” operation by the city’s buildings and public health departments.

The environmentally complex designation was created after the botched 2020 implosion of the former Crawford coal-fired power plant that covered Little Village in a sprawling dust cloud. In that instance, city officials were blasted by a watchdog report for not properly assuring that the implosion demolition would be conducted safely.