Churchill Downs bets on new location for Terre Haute casino
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The Indiana Gaming Commission has given a Churchill Downs affiliate the go-ahead to relocate its planned Terre Haute casino from a potentially unappealing site on the west side of the city to a highway-adjacent location on the east.
The $240 million Queen of Terre Haute is slated to open in late 2023 with 1,000 slot machines, 50 table games, a 125-room luxury hotel, a TwinSpires sports book, a steak house, and a rooftop bar, among other amenities.
It originally was going to be located near the Illinois state line on 20.9 acres of undeveloped land between the Wabash River and the Haute City Center mall, adjacent to a sewage treatment plant and within sight of the execution chamber at the nearby federal prison.
However, Churchill Downs officials said further communication with Terre Haute leaders and citizens prompted them to reconsider the west side location in favor of a 50-acre east side tract just north of Interstate 70 and west of Ind. 46.
In addition to extra space for potential future expansion, the new location is more accessible, part of a growing commercial core, fits in the city's existing road and infrastructure plans, and has overwhelming public support, said Jason Sauer, Churchill senior vice president for corporate development, and Ryan Jordan, senior vice president for real estate development.
Terre Haute was assigned a state gaming license by the 2019 General Assembly as part of a plan to consolidate Gary's two gaming licenses into one, and to allow the Gary casino to relocate from Lake Michigan to a land-based site adjacent to Interstate 80-94 at Burr Street.
The $300 million Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana opened in Gary on May 14, 2021. It's been the highest grossing casino in Indiana since October, topping the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.
Things have moved much slower in Terre Haute. In June 2021, the gaming commission denied the original licensee's renewal request due to a variety of financial and ethical concerns, along with a lack of visible progress toward constructing a Terre Haute casino after more than a year.
That opened the door for other companies to apply for the license. Churchill Downs, the company that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby horse race and is majority owner of the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois, was awarded the license in November.
