Nov. 18—SOUTHERN INDIANA — Caesars Southern Indiana marks its 25th anniversary Monday, as the casino has paid out over $2.7 billion in jackpots, contributed more than $2 billion in taxes and employed thousands of workers since opening in 1998 in Harrison County.
Originally a riverboat, the casino was launched in Elizabeth off Ind. 111 after Floyd County voters twice turned down gaming on referendums. Still, millions of grant dollars have been poured into the community through the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
An anchor for downtown development, the foundation provided $20 million toward the construction of the New Albany-Floyd County YMCA as one of its first projects.
"That was the springboard that I've always said gave people hope that downtown could be more than just the ghost town it was at that time," said Jerry Finn, the foundation's first executive director who retired in 2021 after serving in the position for almost two decades.
The investment in the YMCA "played a major role in the economic development of downtown New Albany," said Uric Dufrene, Sanders Chair in Business at Indiana University Southeast.
The foundation started in 1999, and its board includes casino, Floyd County and New Albany officials. Grants awarded by the foundation have impacted more than just downtown development, as the organization has financially supported local schools, funded scholarships and created a zero interest loan fund during the pandemic to help Floyd County businesses.
"The foundation has had immeasurable impacts on education, arts and culture, community development, human services, and health and medical," Dufrene said. "The community is better off today with the investments made."
But it's a community that rejected the casino itself. Yet Floyd County voters weren't the only ones who potentially missed the boat. Clark County voters also turned down gaming on two referendums before eventually approving it in 2006. But the riverboat was already located in Harrison County, and Jeffersonville's attempts at garnering state approval for a casino were delayed and ultimately failed.
So what would Floyd County look like if the casino had been built on the New Albany riverfront?
"That's a good question, but it's hard to say," Dufrene said. "One potential impact is that a casino located in Floyd County would have accelerated the development that we now see today."
But that hypothetical development could have greatly differed from the hyper-local downtown business district that's thriving in New Albany in 2023, Dufrene continued.