CHICAGO — Remnants of what used to be the old Chicago Tribune Printing plant, known as the Freedom Center, will play host to the new Bally’s Hotel and Casino.
While slot machines and table games will eventually fill the space, Bally’s Chicago Community Builders Collective, a joint venture of nine companies, is now responsible for the casino’s interior demolition and overall construction.
One of the project’s construction leaders says his responsibility also means giving back to the community.
Of the nine companies, some are women and/or minority-led enterprises, such as Ujamaa Construction, Inc. Leading the charge is president and CEO Jimmy Akintonde, a great American success story in his own right, who emigrated from Nigeria as a teenager and hit the ground running.
“I came over when I was 17 years old to build and to design high-rise buildings,” he said. ” I went to IIT College of Architecture. I worked for an actual contractor for the …