New riverboat slated for Hammond, IN

[IndyGuy]

From an AP article in the Indianapolis Star:

[ QUOTE ]
HAMMOND, Ind. -- Another of Indiana's Lake Michigan casinos has jumped into the riverboat arms race.

Horseshoe Casino officials on Thursday announced plans to build a new riverboat along the Hammond shore. The company provided few details about the project, but said it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and add about 400 permanent jobs.
"This is something I've been working on for many years," said Rick Mazer, the casino's senior vice president and general manager. "We are excited. We believe this will take the industry to a whole new level."
The city's Port Authority Board and Redevelopment Commission on Thursday both unanimously approved the plan, with one other city board to give final consideration on Monday. The directors of the casino's owner, Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc., could vote to move the project ahead as early as next week, Mazer said.
Word of the Horseshoe project comes just a week after Blue Chip Casino, about 40 miles to the east in Michigan City, opened a new $170 million riverboat that is the largest casino boat registered by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Majestic Star Casino LLC, which owns the two Gary riverboats, has announced plans to build an entertainment center, a convention space and another nearby hotel.
Officials said the Horseshoe project could be finished in two years.
"This is an important deal for the city and for the future of Hammond," Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. "What we did today for Hammond will affect the city for generations."
Horseshoe, which has about 2,150 employees, is just across the state line from Chicago and was the busiest of Indiana's 10 casinos for the year ending last June 30, during which it recorded more than 4.1 million admissions, according to state records.
The new boat is to be situated next to the current casino on land occupied by the Hammond Yacht Club. Harrah's is buying yacht club's building for close to $3 million and will also pay the city $3.5 million to cover revenue losses from the planned closing of the public marina for construction work during the 2007 boating season.

[/ QUOTE ]