TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — With the recent additions of the Larry Bird Museum and Terre Haute Casino Resort, the city of Terre Haute is seeing a boom in tourism.
Mayor Brandon Sakbun said that now is the perfect time to hit the gas with investments in our area.
“How do you continue to stimulate that with strong downtown investments, whether that is residential, commercial, or hospitality and tourism,” said Sakbun. “You need to keep adding to your deck and adding to your portfolio because if not, another community is. We have to evaluate these opportunities as well as recognizing the performances that we’ve got.”
Sakbun thinks that expanding sports tourism will supercharge even more growth.
“How do you grow sports tourism with our other teams and opportunities like Rex baseball, ISU basketball, our recreational soccer leagues that our kids play in,” said Sakbun. “That is the level of conversation where I think we can go to take this increase to an exponential level for years to come.”
Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer said that the area universities are a major part of this process.
“Indiana State University has a new athletic director and president that will play a big role,” said Switzer. “Rose-Hulman continues to step up with their projects. Saint Mary’s of the Woods has all of their sports and activities. We really are a cross-country town and athletic community, and we can build upon that and I hope we do.”
Officials also said that Vigo County is now in the top 10 counties in the state in tourism revenues. Switzer said that they are building on the past to develop an even bigger success story.
“It has nothing to do with buildings, it’s advocacy,” said Switzer. “This community has come together like a village like no other to get things accomplished.”
Sakbun also mentioned demolition is scheduled to begin at the location of the new downtown hotel in November with hopes of a groundbreaking not long after.
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