Ahead of the opening of Wind Creek Chicago Southland, a massive job fair was planned in Harvey on Thursday. The event, taking place at the Harvey Park District’s Gloria Taylor Center, was expected to help the casino hire a wide range of employees, filling some of the 1,000 open roles.
However, while hundreds of job applicants were ready in the early morning, the job fair didn’t take place. This left disappointed nearly 300 people who sought new employment at Wind Creek Chicago Southland.
As announced by the Chicago Tribune, citing information from Wind Creek Casino officials, Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark contacted Brent Pinkston, the chief operating officer for Wind Creek Hospitality, less than 20 minutes before the job fair’s planned start at 10 AM and asked him to cancel the event. The reason for the cancellation of the job fair was reportedly concerns related to mass crowd forming.
The future gaming, hospitality and entertainment destination is anticipated to start hiring employees at some point in August. This is why the job fair was a major milestone in that process. Yet, despite people signing up, the event was called off, leaving both the casino and job applicants disappointed.
Kisha McCaskill, Harvey Park District’s executive director, revealed that at 10 AM on Thursday, there were more than 100 people who arrived for the job fair. “These are people that took time off of their jobs, people that took time away from their children, these are people that are struggling,” she said.
McCaskill added that the canceled job fair was a major “disappointment for the people.” Last but not least, she explained: “As of the time that it was shut down, we already had 286 people signed in.”
Harvey Spokesperson Says Wind Creek Decided to Cancel the Event
Glenn Harston, a Harvey spokesperson, claimed that it wasn’t the Mayor’s decision to call off the job fair. In an email, the spokesperson said that Mayor Clark contacted a representative of Wind Creek as he was concerned about the size of the crowd that was expected to gather at the event.
Moreover, per Harston’s words, the Mayor was concerned whether the event center would be able to accommodate the many people who may turn out. Clark’s worries also revolved around the insufficient presence of law enforcement and the fire department as a means to guarantee the safety of the event.
According to Harston, after Clark presented those claims to the representative of Wind Creek, they decided to call off the job fair. “The decision to cancel the job fair was made by Wind Creek, not by the Mayor or the City,” the spokesperson wrote.
At this point, it remains unclear when another job fair may be organized. Still, the opening for Wind Creek Chicago Southland is planned for later this summer.