TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — It’s been 51 weeks since Churchill Downs Inc. broke ground on the Terre Haute Casino Resort – Wednesday, the project celebrated another milestone.
CDI representatives, Terre Haute and Vigo County leaders, state lawmakers, and more gathered at the construction site for a topping-off ceremony.
Terre Haute Casino Resort Vice President and General Manager Mike Rich shared that topping off ceremonies can be traced back to a Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease tree-dwelling spirits displaced by the construction.
While Wednesday’s ceremony did include a tree, the bigger message for the day was that the project has reached an important turning point.
“The topping off ceremony is simply a point in construction where the entire project is fully enclosed and the last beam gets lifted into place,” Rich explained. “It’s a really transitional stage in the project where all the work really starts going on in the inside of the project.
That internal work was visible during tours offered after the topping off ceremony. Local leaders like Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett a new perspective of the project.
“I’ve been driving by a lot and a lot of people have, and you think, man, it really looks great,” Bennett said. “They’re doing some tremendous work out here to get it done, but to actually go inside today was phenomenal to see the layout and where they’re at in the process.”
During the tour, guides pointed out the locations of several amenities within the building. The walls separating the Rockwood Bar and Grill from the main gaming floor area are visible, as are the spots where elevators will one day take people up to the Altitude Bar & Grill on the top (10th) floor of the hotel.
The open-air portion of the gaming floor is taking shape near the building’s northwest corner, and grab-and-go style food and coffee at the Queen’s Beans is being outlined at the southwest edge.
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Guides take stakeholders and other leaders around the gaming floor. (WTWO) -
The open-air section of the gaming floor. (WTWO) -
Mayor Duke Bennett speaking about the project and the effort to bring a casino to Terre Haute. (WTWO) -
Vigo County leaders signing the beam ahead of the topping off ceremony. (WTWO) -
The Terre Haute Casino Resort taking shape on the city’s east side. (WTWO)
One aspect of the casino gaming operations gaining attention in the community is the live poker tables.
“It’s funny that poker has generated such chatter that it has,” Rich said, smiling. “People are excited about being able to play live poker. In reality, not many casinos in the state of Indiana really offer that offering, so I think people are just excited that they’ll have a place to come play in this area.”
CDI is focusing now on getting people to fill the many jobs surrounding casino resort operations; Rich has said in the past that just under 600 people will be hired for both full-time and part-time roles.
“We’ve started putting together an executive team now and we’re at a point really where you’re gonna start seeing advertising the beginning of July for our dealer schools that kick off in October,” Rich shared. “We’re gonna guarantee that dealers are gonna make $22 an hour all in with their tips and their base pay for that first year.”
For Mayor Bennett, excitement surrounding the casino stems not only from the economic development opportunities within the property, but the opportunities created outside the property.
“Things like this spur additional things,” Bennett said. “Obviously we’re gonna be doing some additional road work out in this end of town. You know we’re doing the feasibility study for the athletic complex and the water component; that’s probably gonna be on the east side more than likely. But (the casino)’s gonna have an effect across the whole county.”
CDI officials are still projecting a Spring 2024 opening date for the project.
