Lobbyists realize dream as governor signs casino bill

Shannon Dininny

Friday, May 2, 2003 | 10 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- After logging hundreds of miles traveling to the Statehouse in the past decade to plead for a casino, citizen lobbyists from southern Indiana made their last trip Tuesday to watch the governor sign into law a bill authorizing a riverboat.

Orange County residents, known affectionately around the Statehouse as "orange shirts" for the orange T-shirts they wear, have for 10 years been pushing for a riverboat casino they believe will save two historic hotels in French Lick and West Baden Springs.

About 30 "orange shirts," the presidents of the two town councils and several lawmakers attended the ceremony as Gov. Frank O'Bannon signed the bill.

"When you see the orange shirts here, it kind of takes you back to what democracy is all about," said O'Bannon, who sported an orange ribbon on his lapel. "It's about the freedom to speak, the freedom to assemble, and the freedom to petition your government, and that's what they've done."

Supporters hope a casino -- with slot machines, blackjack and poker -- will resurrect past glory and help French Lick distinguish itself as more than just the hometown of basketball legend Larry Bird.

"This is the greatest thing in this state in 100 years," said Jack Carnes, 70, of French Lick, a longtime casino supporter. "You took the poorest people in the state and you listened to them."

Rep. Jerry Denbo, the bill's longtime sponsor, thanked the governor, lawmakers and other supporters of the plan.

"Gambling is just a very small part of what we plan," said Denbo, D-French Lick. "In a few years, we plan on French Lick and West Baden being the destination resort of the Midwest."

In the first half of the 20th century, French Lick and West Baden Springs were regular vacation haunts for U.S. presidents and Hollywood stars. In its heyday, the area had as many as 17 casinos.

The illegal gambling ended in 1949, when Gov. Henry F. Schricker ordered state police to crack down.

Many of the county's 19,400 residents now believe only a riverboat casino can save their depressed economy.

Orange County's unemployment rate is nearly 9 percent -- worst among Indiana's 92 counties. About 1,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past two years.

The bill would allow a riverboat on a yet-to-be-constructed waterway between French Lick and West Baden Springs, which are about a mile apart, if voters approve one in a countywide referendum.

According to estimates, the casino would take in about $44 million each year in wagering revenue and pay about $10.5 million a year in wagering and admissions taxes.

Orange County would be required to share admissions tax and wagering tax revenue with the towns of Orleans and Paoli and with Crawford and Dubois counties. Some tax money would be used to restore and preserve the two historic hotels.

Denbo said supporters are working to hold the referendum this fall, but he did not know the earliest a riverboat could open.

"I'd put a pontoon boat out there the day after the referendum if I could," he said.