INDIANAPOLIS — For years, the reason at the Indiana General Assembly against locating a casino in downtown Indianapolis just blocks from the Statehouse was that lawmakers couldn’t be trusted to resist the lure of potential corruption that the gaming industry could bring literally to the legislature’s front door.
There have been recent convictions of lobbyists and former lawmakers regarding the exchange of cash for favors and consideration when it came to the granting of casino licenses in Indiana.
Now, Senate Bill 43 would establish a study to determine which three Indiana cities would be prime candidates for casino licenses, new or existing, as the state considers whether to expand its casino community beyond the current 13 sites or help out an existing gamer with an underperforming location on the Ohio River near Cincinnati.
”God bless southeast Indiana, but that’s not the easiest place to get to in terms of going out if you’re gonna go have a good evening,” said Sen. Aaron Freeman, a Republican representing Marion County. ”I think this casino needs to relocate. The question is where. I happen to represent Marion County, and I’m telling you I would love to have it here.”
Full House Resorts Inc. owns Rising Star Casino Resort in Rising Sun and has floated the idea of relocating to New Haven, east of Fort Wayne.
”For the state, the revenue impact was somewhere between $55-64 million once it was up and running,” said Sen. Andy Zay, a Republican from Huntington. “The local impact, I believe, was somewhere between $15-20 million, which was shared with some of the surrounding areas. That could be even higher in Indianapolis, where you potentially consider the convention and tourism business.”
Freeman said such a downtown casino would derive much of its revenue from visitors and conventioneers and go a long way toward relieving Marion County’s bottomless spending wish list.
”A lot of the financial constraints of Marion County, a lot of the infrastructure needs of Marion County, and I’m talking roads, lane miles that people drive on, potholes, I’m talking every dollar of it should go to benefit that,” he said.
“If the goal of gaming is revenue to the state of Indiana, then it defies understanding why we don’t examine the possibility of Indianapolis hosting a casino. With our convention business, with our tourism business, with all of the world-class events that we have in this city, I believe that the people who come to this city would absolutely benefit from having a casino in town.”
The closest casinos to Indianapolis, which also feature horse racing, are in Anderson and Shelbyville.
”People who come into this city are probably not going to rent a car and drive to Shelbyville or Anderson,” said Freeman. “Certainly, they are not gonna drive to Terre Haute or Evansville, Indiana, but they absolutely would walk across the street and go to a casino.”
Downtown locations under consideration could include vast acres of empty parking lots south of Lucas Oil Stadium, Pan Am Plaza at the base of the Signia Hotel, or down Georgia Street at Circle Centre, where redeveloper Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC has not yet unveiled a finalized configuration.
If approved, the casino location study would be due in October.
