The $15 million renovation at Ameristar Casino in East Chicago will begin this week with all-new interiors and equipment. The casino will remain open as the project is completed in phases over 18 weeks toward the October 5 finish date. Ameristar General Manager Matt Schaffer said, “The scope is pretty much almost everything there is on a casino floor from a gaming equipment perspective, including new gaming chairs, carpets, ceilings, lighting, wall coverings, new furniture, fixtures and equipment, amenity upgrades and surveillance upgrades. We’re also adding a restroom to our fourth level and all of our restrooms will be remodeled.”
The Indiana Gaming Commission unanimously voted to allow Ameristar to relocate 21 table games to its off-boat pavilion ballroom from July 16 through August 3 while the main table game area on Level 3 is upgraded. “Because this section has a pretty large majority of the table games we offer, we felt it was important when we were renovating this section to really still have that offering somewhere on property that those guests can come experience that,” Schuffert said.
Meanwhile the $6 million relocation of Ameristar’s high limit area to a different part of the pavilion will open May 24. It will offer the region’s first land-based gaming since Indiana lawmakers in 2015 authorized casinos to move off boats onto dockside casino property. “We’re very excited. We’re getting great feedback from our guests and our nearly 1,200 team members. This is going to be a great project for us and a great project for Northwest Indiana and our gaming market,” Schuffert said.
Schuffert added it’s possible the entire operation could move ashore in the future. “We looked at what was the best capital to invest at this property at this time. Last November, it was let’s get the high limit on land going. Now it’s time to put that money into the casino.”
So far this year, Ameristar is the second-most visited casino in Indiana after the Horseshoe in Hammond, which offers more than twice as many table games and one-third more slots, according to state records.
