Casino Aztar In Evansville Indiana
No matter the season, a flurry of nightlife revolves inside and out of Tropicana Evansville, Indiana’s first casino.
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Formerly known as Casino Aztar, and often referred to as “The Boat,” “The City of Evansville” riverboat has transformed tremendously since opening 20 years ago at 421 N.W. Riverside Drive on Evansville’s riverfront.
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“Tropicana Evansville has been an anchor in the Evansville community since its inception,” says Tropicana Director of Marketing Stacey McNeill. “With more than $550 million in direct and incentive payments to city, state, and local community projects, the face of our city has been ever-changing and Downtown Evansville would be much different than it is today.”
In 1993 Vanderburgh County residents passed a referendum allowing riverboat gambling, and construction on the boat. The site where Tropicana and its coinciding district sit currently was once empty. Two years later, in 1995, Aztar Corp. docked the first gaming riverboat in Indiana and opened the casino to the public.
In 1996, the Casino Aztar Pavilion and Casino Aztar Hotel opened to the public. Casino Aztar Hotel, now known as Tropicana Hotel, features 243 guest rooms, 11 suites, a 1,660 vehicle-parking garage, meeting, conference and banquet facilities, and a fitness room.
The casino took a break from the ongoing improvements until 2005, when construction on The District, the area of nightlife surrounding the casino, began. Along with this construction came Ri Ra Irish Pub, Jillian’s Billiards Club, the Le Merigot Hotel, and Blush Ultralounge. Over the years, new restaurants have been introduced. In 2012, a pedestrian bridge was built to connect The District to the casino.
By 2013, Casino Aztar was no more. Tropicana Entertainment Inc. purchased the ownership in 2010 and owned the casino for three years before making the official name change.
In November, Tropicana Entertainment announced its multi-million dollar plan for a land-based casino development project that would involve construction of a 75,000-square-foot single-level casino and entertainment facility situated between Tropicana Hotel and the Le Merigot.
Tropicana anticipates the groundbreaking to occur in the first quarter of this year.
For more information about Tropicana Evansville, call 812-433-4000 or visit tropevansville.com.
The Issue: Evansville facility has a potential buyer. Our View: City has reason for cautious optimism.
In only a few short days, the future of Casino Aztar on Evansville's riverfront has moved from uncertainty and pessimism to cautious optimism. On this page on March 30, we were talking about the outside possibility of developments leaving Casino Aztar without a license to operate, which would be a terrible blow to the city's economy.
Thank goodness, it didn't come to that.
Aztar, the oldest Indiana casino, is up for sale by Columbia Sussex, the company that purchased the Evansville property from Aztar in 2006 and then proceeded to make a mess of things. Indeed, the decision to sell was seen as a positive development from Evansville's perspective, but as of early last week the public knew of no interested buyer.
The worst case scenario had Casino Aztar going without a buyer and Columbia Sussex losing its license to operate it.
This was all before the Indiana Gaming Commission met on Monday.
There it was revealed that Eldorado Resorts, a casino operator with a solid reputation, has offered to buy the Evansville gambling/entertainment complex. In addition, until the sale goes through, Casino Aztar will be operated by an interim trustee, Robert 'Tom' Dingman, a former executive with Harrah's Entertainment, who will be paid by Columbia Sussex.
The problems with Columbia Sussex in Evansville started almost immediately after its purchase, with sharp, unexpected job cuts that affected worker morale. Under Columbia Sussex, the number of employees fell below 950, even though Aztar at one time employed 1,200 people.
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It was similar to the situation at a Columbia Sussex casino in New Jersey.
Dingman said he doesn't plan any more layoffs and he does plan to work with the city, a skill that Columbia Sussex never mastered. As for Eldorado, a family business that operates casinos in Reno, Nev., and Shreveport, La., officials say it is premature to discuss plans for Evansville, given that the sale is pending.
It is known that the Shreveport casino, the casino was in bankruptcy when Eldorado took over, renamed it, improved its interior, added employees and has since seen revenues grow.
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That same type of resurgence is needed at the Evansville casino, where revenues have been flat, attendance down and the boat showing its age.
Evansville Indiana Casino Boat
Regardless of what people think about government-sanctioned gambling, it is undeniable that Casino Aztar under its original ownership was good to Evansville and good for Evansville.
It was a stellar corporate citizen that created jobs and lively entertainment on the previously sleepy riverfront.
With Eldorado Resorts, it would appear that the city has a shot once again at regaining some of the energy lost during Columbia Sussex's short journey along the Ohio River.