The company selected to open a new casino in Terre Haute said it could start construction work on the project as soon as late May.
Churchill Downs Inc. officials told the Indiana Gaming Commission about the construction plans Tuesday as they discussed their decision to move the project to a 50-acre site on the city’s east side near the Interstate 70-Indiana 46 interchange.
The Louisville, Kentucky-based company announced last month it had decided to drop a proposed location overlooking the western Indiana city’s sewage treatment plant and county jail.
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That original site was criticized as an inferior location in a since-withdrawn lawsuit from a company that objected to the state commission’s decision in November to award the Terre Haute project license to Churchill Downs.
Company officials said plans remain intact for the estimated $260 million project that includes a casino, along with a 10-story, 125-room hotel with a rooftop lounge. The casino could open in summer 2023.
Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett says he supports the location in the TIF district, which provides funding sources for future improvements.
"I feel like this is going to do what it needs to do and be successful in that location, which in turn, means more revenues for the city, and the county, and school corporation, everybody that participates in this, that we can all invest in ourselves," Bennett said.
The Terre Haute casino project had stalled amid an investigation into allegations of criminal and financial misconduct against top executives in an ownership group that originally sought the casino license in 2019.
Joe Hren contributed to this report.