Billionaire is lynchpin of development project

Ryan Lenz

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 | 9:55 a.m.

Orange County hasn't hung all its hopes for prosperity on historical riches -- there's a modern billionaire to consider, too.

William A. Cook, one of Indiana's richest men, has taken the lead on efforts to restore two historic hotels and build a casino in French Lick that many hope will bring a return of economic fortune to one of the state's most unemployed counties.

Cook has donated $37 million so far for the restoration of the West Baden Springs Hotel, an architectural jewel that had fallen into disrepair, and is one of two financiers behind casino developer Blue Sky Casino LLC.

"Everything that has been associated with his name in this area has been good, credible and then sometimes incredible. And I mean that the nicest way," said Lin Wagner, who owns a five-and-dime store with her husband in downtown French Lick.

Volunteering to be the saving grace for an entire county might seem an unlikely goal for a 74-year-old whose net worth of roughly $3 billion puts him among the nation's 50 wealthiest people, according to Forbes magazine.

But it isn't an unusual interest for Cook, who owned a charter bus company, has driven rock star John Mellencamp and produced a touring theatrical production based on his love of drum and bugle corps.

The Cook Group, which was founded in a spare bedroom of his Bloomington apartment in 1963, has grown to become one of the world's largest medical device makers, producing medical hypodermic needles and wire guides for catheters.

Subsidiaries also include a real estate company that invests in historic buildings, medical offices and antiques malls.

Still, Cook has remained modestly behind the scenes for most of the watermark moments on the long road to the casino, which began more than a decade ago.

Cook, who still lives with his wife, Gayle, in the three-bedroom home he bought in 1967, didn't attend the ceremonial groundbreaking in August and was nowhere to be seen during a state licensing hearing for the casino. He also declined several requests for interviews with the Associated Press, and those who know him well say they won't discuss the man without permission first.

The man is held in high esteem regardless for residents of Orange County, who replaced the orange T-shirts they wore to lobby the legislature for a casino with blue ones silkscreened with a note thanking Cook.