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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A lawsuit challenging the selection of a company to build a new Terre Haute casino has been dropped, clearing a hurdle for the stalled project.
A Marion County judge dismissed the lawsuit Wednesday at the request of a casino company that objected to the Indiana Gaming Commission’s decision in November to award the Terre Haute project license to Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Inc.
The lawsuit claimed the commission violated state law by considering suggestions from Churchill Downs that it would look at sites other than the one included in its application, which is adjacent to the western Indiana city's sewage treatment plant and the new Vigo County Jail.
Gaming Commission deputy director Jenny Reske told the Tribune-Star that the court action allows the project to move forward and that the commission will be working with Churchill Downs officials about construction timelines.
An attorney for Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts told the commission that it realized from comments by the commission’s chairman that it was unlikely to change its selection decision despite the issues raised by the lawsuit.
The Terre Haute project stalled in the past year amid an investigation into allegations of criminal and financial misconduct against top executives in an ownership group that originally sought the casino license in 2019.
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