The casino made extensive use of the Egyptian theme including several pyramids on top of the entertainment complex, a large recreation of the Sphinx and faux hieroglyphics along the sides of the building. The Empress Casino opened on June 16, 1992, as a riverboat type casino in Joliet, Illinois. Using a portion of his own money, he and a group of investors created Empress Casino. Lambrecht believed that a riverboat casino in Joliet could thrive, a risky idea at the time. In the early 1990s construction company owner T.J. It was destroyed by a fire on March 20, 2009. Lambrecht, Empress Casino become one of the first riverboat casinos in Illinois. Built in the 1990s by a group of investors headed by T.J. Penn National Gaming (2004-2009 its destruction)Īrgosy's Empress Casino (also known as Empress Casino Joliet) was a Riverboat casino and hotel located in Joliet, Illinois.
Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation (1999-2001) It displays the casinos official logo and now belongs to a private collector. The flag pictured is currently the only one know to have survived the fire that destroyed the Empress Casino.