The licence application for a Vigo County casino has been reopened for the Indiana Gaming Commission following its decision not to renew Lucy Luck Gaming licence earlier this week.
Posting a press release on its official website, the Gaming Commission informed interested applicants of the $50,000 application fees and to use the Commission’s Casino License Application form to express interest.
The commission said in its statement that the future casino establishment is intended to benefit Vigo County and that it is the regulator’s responsibility to ensure the realisation of that goal.
Furthermore, the notice read that the commission is committed to ‘ensuring that the applicant selected for the Vigo County casino meets or exceeds all applicable standards and presents the highest potential for successful operation of a casino’.
September 22 has been established as the deadline for submitting the necessary paperwork and related proposals for the Vigo County casino.
The IGC added that it is its top priority to not only ensure a transparent selection process but to also pick its preferred applicant ‘as expeditiously as possible’.
Terre Haute-based company Lucy Luck Gaming previously held the Vigo County casino license. However, the Gaming Commission opted not to renew that license, saying that Lucy Luck Gaming had failed to hire an executive team to run its planned gambling venue and had not had full financing secured for the property.
The company planned to invest $175m into the development of a Hard Rock-branded casino complex in Terre Haute. In March, it informed the Indiana gambling regulator that it had secured a financing package to complete the project.
On the IGC decision earlier this week, Greg Gibson, chairman of Lucy Luck Gaming, noted: “The news we received today, although it wasn’t what we had anticipated or hoped for, isn’t the end of the journey. Lucy Luck Gaming has been prepared to begin construction on this project for months. We are in a position to hire our team, but at this time, we don’t have any gaming operations going on.
“We have worked tirelessly alongside many to bring this project to the Terre Haute community. We have developed our team, our finances, and detailed our operations to secure our licence.
“However, more importantly, Terre Haute has worked hard for this project. The citizens have worked hard for this project. I am deeply disappointed in what came from today’s meeting, and disappointed that a community who has fought and stood ready received such news.
“I believe in my community, and I believe in this project. As for Lucy Luck, we may reapply, but I’m not sure if we will.”
