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The city's riverboat casino is getting a new entertainment complex, hotel, slot machines and other improvements as it gears up to compete with a new Orange County casino set to open in November.
The French Lick casino will be less than a two-hour drive from Casino Aztar in Evansville.
"We have new competition coming on line, and we need to remain competitive," said Jim Brown, Casino Aztar's president and general manager.
Casino Aztar's new $40 million entertainment complex, called "The District at Casino Aztar," will include an Irish pub, a one-acre park and a bowling and billiards complex.
A new 100-room hotel with rooms equipped with plasma-screen televisions and suites with panoramic river views, and a lounge, is open in mid-December, Brown said.
Some improvements - like new penny slot machines - are already in place. Brown said such slots are the latest trend in the gaming industry.
The improvements to the Evansville casino may help it compete with the new $382 million Orange County casino project, which includes the renovation of the historical French Lick Springs Resort Hotel and nearby West Baden Springs Hotel.
The French Lick Resort Casino will market to niche markets such as honeymooners, said Jerry Gleason, the casino's vice president of hospitality. However, the casino also will be going after other gamers who might currently be going to Casino Aztar.
"We certainly will be competing for the same gaming dollars," Gleason said.
Because of French Lick's roots as a resort town, its casino could be more of a destination for visitors - not just something to do while stopping in a city like Evansville, said Patrick Barkey, director of economic and policy studies at Ball State University.
"You're talking about a different audience, to some extent," he said.
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