INDIANAPOLIS (WTWO/WAWV) — The Indiana Gaming Commission has selected Churchill Downs as the operator for the future Vigo County casino.
It is important to note that due to Lucy Luck’s ongoing settlement discussion with the IGC, there will not be an official awarding of the license Wednesday. The commission began a meeting at 12 p.m. Wednesday to listen to presentations from all four applicants for the license and announce who would receive it.
During its meeting, the IGC heard 30-minute presentations from each of the four companies, followed by a designated time for questions by the commission. The order of the presentations was made through a random drawing. Full House Resorts presented first, then Hard Rock, Terre Haute Entertainment and Churchill Downs.
Before the casino presentations, a Public Policy Institute Analysis presentation was given by Drew Klacik from IU Public Policy. He presented a study comparing the data for the four applicants to four similarly sized casinos.
Full House Resorts presented first, with company representatives saying they have proposed less hotel rooms than the other three companies due to existing hotels and the possibility of new nearby hotels in the future. If selected, Full House does plan to have a temporary gaming facility in Terre Haute while the permanent casino is being built.
During its presentation, Full House clarified that its intended site location for the casino is outside of Terre Haute city limits. However, representatives from the company said they will do targeted recruitment in Vigo County to ensure workers are local and mentioned Indiana State University and Ivy Tech as places to pull interns or possible workers.
In the second applicant presentation, representatives from Hard Rock, the only local company with specific letters of support sent in by local elected officials, told commissioners the company had 90% brand recognition in the United States, which would help quickly grow the market. Representatives also spent a portion of their presentation outlining company strategies for diversity, equity and inclusion.
Hard Rock also told commissioners that they are “shovel ready” during the presentation and that 70% of their construction blueprint drawings are already complete. The company intends to open the casino in Spring 2023, proposing a 14 month construction project.
Premiere Gaming was the third company to present, with representatives telling the commission there is “no financing risk” involved in its proposal because it is 100% equity funded. They also pointed out this would be the only casino project the company would be working on, while Hard Rock and Full House are currently involved in ongoing proposals or projects.
The company has proposed to build its casino on the east side of Terre Haute, with their location being the furthest west of the proposals. During Premiere’s questioning session, commissioners asked if the proposed 25-acre location would be big enough for expansions and representatives said they believed it was.
Churchill Downs was the final company to present and began by telling commissioners a brief history of the company as this casino would be its first Indiana venture. The group, most well known for horseracing and the Kentucky Derby, had the largest square footage of any proposed casino site.
During Churchill’s presentation, a representative from Wilhelm Construction, which will help to build the company’s proposed casino, spoke about their knowledge of the Terre Haute community. Churchill representatives also said that construction on the casino could begin “immediately” and pointed to the fact that their project is not in “phases” like the other applicants.
Following the conclusion of Churchill Downs’ presentation and question session, a member of the IGC summarized to commissioners the general consensus from all the public comments they had received. The public comments section was followed by commissioners listing their top two companies.
The two finalists following these votes were Churchill Downs and Full House Resorts. Following this, commissioners heard final comments from representatives of the two companies.
Following the four presentations, commission members have said they will announce the company they intend to award the license to. For more information regarding the application process and the four companies who have applied, click here.
This is a developing story. Follow MyWabashValley.com for updates.
