Trump Beats Larry Bird for Indiana Casino Contract

[clevfan]

Posted on Tue, Jul. 20, 2004

Trump Beats Bird for Ind. Casino Contract

KIMBERLY HEFLING

Associated Press


FRENCH LICK, Ind. - Donald Trump bested two other casino groups on Tuesday - including one backed by hometown basketball hero Larry Bird - for the bid to build a casino in this struggling community where movie stars once vacationed.

The State Gaming Commission awarded the contract to Trump at the end of two days of public hearings. Commissioners said the billionaire developer had been unanimously endorsed by a local committee in the southern Indiana community about 60 miles northwest of Louisville, Ky.

Trump promised to open the casino by the end of 2005 and give $10 million to the French Lick Springs Resort & Hotel and the West Baden Springs Hotel for restoration. Trump's casino proposal includes a deli, a buffet and an entertainment lounge. Trump has the added draw of Indiana golfer Fuzzy Zoeller as a partner.

The casino is to be built next to the French Lick resort, one of two in the area popular with celebrities before the 1929 stock-market crash.

The commissioners said they were not as impressed by the offer made by Orange County Development, a group that includes Bird, president of the NBA's Indiana Pacers.

Unlike the two other groups, which promised to spend more than $100 million on the project, Orange County Development was not willing to invest more than $60 million.