INDIANAPOLIS | In what has become an annual rite of spring, state lawmakers quietly are discussing the possibility of moving one of Gary's two lakefront casinos to the southern edge of the city.
Mayor Rudy Clay was in Indianapolis Thursday for a closed-door meeting with Ernest Yelton, executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, and state Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary.
"I think we've got a pretty good chance of getting one of those licenses moved to (Interstate) 80/94," Rogers said.
Talks center on legislation that would allow Majestic Star Casino owner Don Barden to replace one of his Buffington Harbor riverboats with a land-based casino near Indiana University Northwest. A share of his increased profits from the move would go to finance construction of a nearby teaching hospital linked to an expansion of IU's regional medical school.
"I don't have all the information, so right now I'm not in favor of moving a license, (and) I'm not in favor of keeping it where it is," Clay said. "But I do like hooking up a land-based casino with a four-year medical school at Indiana University (Northwest). I think that's a good idea."
Like Rogers, state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, expressed optimism a plan could come together ahead of the General Assembly's April 29 adjournment. But similar proposals foundered the past two years.
House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, doubts a deal can get done. He recently watched a House effort to grant about $35 million a year in temporary tax breaks to the state's 13 casinos die of neglect in the Senate.
"They couldn't even get a discount on taxes on coupons they give out to lure customers," Bauer said Thursday. "And we're going from there -- that minor change in taxation -- to a whole new casino? Where did that come from?"
Barden was invited to the meeting Thursday afternoon in Indianapolis, but it's not clear if he attended. Barden did not immediately return a message left at his Detroit office.
Brown noted that Barden's two adjacent riverboats typically generate less monthly revenue combined than any one of the other three Lake Michigan casinos.
"It just makes sense that we would look at repositioning one or both of those boats," he said.
Rogers said she doesn't think enough legislative groundwork has been laid for moving one of the Gary licenses outside the city. Fort Wayne has been mentioned as a potential suitor in the past.
