This story has been updated to include events from opening day.
This Friday, the Terre Haute Casino Resort opened for business. As of 10:30 that morning, visitors 21 and older can gamble and dine in the new facility.
Hundreds of gamers and Terre Haute residents stood in line that cold morning to be the first guests.
The opening ceremony featured a ribbon cutting, live music, and speeches from local officials and representatives from Churchill Downs.
Some visitors such as Theresa Dennis have been waiting a long time for a casino closer to home.
"We don't have to leave home no more," she said.
Lawmakers and Indiana’s other casinos delayed licensing the project for years, but the Indiana Gaming Commission chose Kentucky Derby owner Churchill Downs to operate the site in 2021.
The casino raffled off several cars Friday and presented a donation to the local St. Benedict Soup Kitchen.
Terre Haute mayor Brandon Sakbun said there's still more to figure out about this casino's place in the city, but the project is part of a bigger push to revitalize Terre Haute.
"You're watching that commercial business develop on the east side of Terre Haute. We want to take that and also drive some of that tourism downtown to our downtown revitalization project," Sakbun said. "Bringing folks in not just off the interstate but into our community is a challenge that we're going to address."
The original proposal was for a $239 million investment, but General Manager Mike Rich said that sum has grown to over $290 million. The number of jobs there has expanded as well, from 400 to just under 600.
“They understood that the overall industry in Indiana was dynamic, and there was an opportunity to bring something special to a part of the state that had no real casino gaming,” Rich said.
Salaries start at $15 an hour, with a minimum of $22 for dealers.
The floor features restaurants, bars, 36 table games and 1,000 slot machines, as well as sports betting. The décor nods to Terre Haute’s history: its historic racetrack and Coca Cola bottling facility.
Rich said he wants the Terre Haute Casino to feel like a regional resort, not just a place for gambling.
Its 122-room hotel remains under construction and is set to open May 15.
“By the time we open the hotel, we'll have six bars, five restaurants, the hotel, a pool and that 10th floor bar as part of the entire concept. No one else in this state is offering those levels of amenities,” Rich said Wednesday.
Southern Indiana has other casinos in French Lick, Evansville, Florence and Elizabeth — 13 total in the state. Terre Haute lies just across the Illinois border, closer to many Illinois residents than casinos in their own state.
