Churchill Downs will begin construction on Queen of Terre Haute casino soon. The company will be holding a groundbreaking ceremony for the project on June 21 at 11 a.m.
If everything goes according to plan, the final building will be open for business by late 2023. That’s great news for gamblers that love visiting Indiana casinos.
Queen of Terre Haute construction
Originally, Churchill was planning to build the Terre Haute casino on the city’s west side. The goal was to break ground on the project by the end of May.
However, the company ended up shifting the plans over to the other side of the city.
The switch-up required special approval since the new location is nearby an airport. That process chewed away at the original timeline, forcing the project to delay things by about one month.
The casino’s new location is at 4442 East Margaret Drive in Terre Haute. That’s on the city’s east side if you’re not familiar with the area.
The move puts the casino closer to Interstate 70, which could ultimately make it more convenient for gamblers to visit the finished building.
Long road to get here
Bringing a new casino to Terre Haute hasn’t exactly been a simple process.
Vigo County originally got the casino ball rolling back in 2019. It’s been an incredibly up and down ride since then.
At the time, Hard Rock had a deal in hand to build a new casino in Gary. The company was planning to create that building’s sister property in Terre Haute.
However, a political money-funneling scandal involving the project ended up causing all sorts of delays for the casino. The building was originally hoping to be open for business by now. The final loose ends from that scandal just recently began to tie up.
All of that ended with Hard Rock losing the rights to the casino. That opened up a huge application process that eventually selected Churchill Downs as the winning bidder.
It’s been a complicated process, but the dust is finally starting to settle. Now that construction is finally beginning on the casino, Terre Haute residents have some much-needed closure on the project.
Hopefully, everything will go off without a hitch and gamblers can enjoy Queen of Terre Haute in 2023.
