Worried about casino competition, Hammond objects to convention center
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The drama surrounding a new convention center in Lake County is ratcheting up.
Lake County Commissioners are currently considering competing pitches from the cities of Gary and Hobart. But this week Hammond city officials decided to voice their opposition to either site getting state funding to build the center.
On Monday, the Hammond Common Council passed a resolution calling on Lake County Commissioners to not select any site for the center, saying it would increase competition for the Horseshoe Hammond Casino and that market conditions don’t support it.
“Choosing either location will not assist Hammond’s decreasing casino revenues, and choosing the Hard Rock location will only act to specifically subsidize one casino’s successes at the expense of other casinos in Northwest Indiana including Hammond Horseshoe; and East Chicago Ameristar,” the resolution reads.
The document also points to the fact that no convention center has been built on the site of the former Star Plaza center in Merrillville as proof that “private industry does not support a convention
center in Lake County.”
The resolution, sponsored by council member Scott Rakos, is non-binding, as a 2023 law gives the Lake County Commissioners control over $5 million in state funds towards the project.
At Monday’s council meeting, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott targeted his comments at Gary, saying their plan for the convention center would involve Lake County taxpayers funding part of a new hotel Hard Rock through a raised innkeepers tax.
“Let that sink in: the most profitable casino in Indiana is asking for a couple hundred million dollars in Lake County taxpayer money,” McDermott said. “That’s what we’re talking about here. This insane: in my opinion.”
None of the three Lake County Commissioners—Kyle Allen Sr., Jerry Tippy or Michael Repay—returned messages seeking comment as of Wednesday afternoon.
The state law allocating the funds for a convention center specifies that the commissioners have until June 1 to select a project, though the resolution points out the law doesn’t require them to pick a site at all. In November, both Gary and Hobart submitted pitches to commissioners for their visions of the convention center.
Gary’s pitch would see a 145,000-square foot convention center go in right next to the Hard Rock Northern Indiana casino off of Insterstate-94. As part of the development, Hard rock wants to open up a new $260 million hotel that connects to the center.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton—who authored the bill to allocate funds for a Lake County convention center when he was a state legislator—has said Gary should be awarded the site because some of the funding for the project is coming out of tax revenue generated by Hard Rock.
Hobart would put the convention center in Patriot’s Park, a busy shopping plaza along U.S. 30, very near Interstate 65. On its 215-acre site, Hobart is partnering with Garfield Public/Private LLC to develop what would be a massive new mixed-use district.
The convention center itself in the center of the development would have 150,000 square feet of space. The building would have an attached hotel with 250 rooms, and two other 100-room hotels would sit within walking distance. Around the center would be other mixed use buildings for more housing and possibly a youth sports area.
The Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana opened in 2021. In the casino’s first year of operation in 2022, it reported a gambling intake revenue of $395 million. In that year, the Horseshoe Hammond casino took in $374 million.
In 2024, Hard Rock took in $437 million compared to Horseshoe’s $274 million.
The resolution also mentions uncertainty surrounding local funding given the recently signed property tax reduction bill which figures to dramatically reduce tax revenues for cities and towns across the state.