Churchill Downs has dropped its proposed location for the new Terre Haute casino that would have overlooked the city sewage treatment plant and county jail.
The company applied with Vigo County officials to rezone the land on the city’s east side near the Interstate 70-Indiana 46 interchange for the casino. County zoning officials are scheduled to consider the new site during meetings on March 2.
Indiana Gaming Commission Deputy Director, Jenny Reske, said the agency saw no legal barrier to Churchill Downs changing locations and that the commission’s board could review the proposed change during its meeting on March 8.
The new location is currently farm fields near the FedEx and Clabber Girl distribution centers and would replace the original site off US 41 on the city’s west side.
The company said many people in the community encouraged selecting a new spot. The original location had been criticized as an inferior one in a lawsuit from a company that objected to the Indiana Gaming Commission’s decision in November to award the Terre Haute project license to Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs.
The lawsuit has since been withdrawn.
Jason Sauer, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Churchill Downs, said: “We listened and today we’re excited to start down the path to groundbreaking on a nearly 50-acre site that’s easily accessible from I-70 and State Road 46.”
The Terre Haute project would be Indiana’s 13th casino location, becoming the state’s first new community to get a casino since 2008. The current $240m project includes a casino and a 10-story, 125-room hotel with a rooftop lounge.
