Column: Newly opened Hard Rock casino already attracting curious guests, serious gamblers from across the country
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Venessa Hosea-Jones had one thought in mind as she entered the new Hard Rock Northern Indiana Casino.
“My hometown is Gary, and I’m back on vacation at this new casino,” she told me. “I don’t gamble much, but I had to come back home and see this new casino. I just wanted to look around.”
We stood in line together while entering the $300 million entertainment complex in the Black Oak section of the city.
Hosea-Jones, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, returned to the Steel City earlier this month to celebrate her birthday. Her family’s heritage goes back multiple generations in Gary, with her grandparents moving from Alabama with 13 children. Her two daughters and extended family have remained in the city, watching as it struggles to avoid rolling any more economic snake eyes.
“I was a mill worker at U.S. Steel from 1976 until the rail mill closed. That’s when I moved away,” Hosea-Jones said while waiting in line at an ATM. “But Gary will always be my home.”
She attended Roosevelt High School, near the childhood home of Michael Jackson, one of the few tourist destination sites in the city. Every time I’ve visited there, I’ve seen fans from across the country. They simply want to see the Jackson family’s most humble beginnings. Otherwise, there’s not much to see.
One of Hosea-Jones’ daughters, Toni Dickerson, toured the casino’s gift shop, suggesting it should offer printed maps to Jackson’s home at 2300 Jackson St.
“So people can know how to get there from the casino,” she said.
Last week, in conjunction with the casino’s grand opening, the city unveiled new directional signs for traveling motorists. Printed maps is another idea to consider.
Musical memorabilia from the Jackson family adorns the impressive Hard Rock complex. I watched guests stop to stare at anything related to the Jackson family, including an entire wall of historic images, flashy photos and an informational timeline.
“Have you seen this section yet?” a casino employee asked.
Every worker I encountered was polite and professional. At the main entrance, a woman asked me to lower my mask so she could see my entire face.
“How old are you?” she asked.
“I’m this old,” I replied, showing her my graying hair.
“OK, you’re good then,” she said.
In the parking lot, vehicle license plates were from several states outside of Indiana, mostly from Illinois, but also included Texas, Virginia and Colorado. Over the weekend I heard from guests who couldn’t get into the casino because it was so busy. I was more curious what it looked like on its first full weekday, on an overcast Monday afternoon.
“It’s perfect gambling weather,” one patron told me near a rear room filled with slot machines, transferred from the former Majestic Star Casino.
That backroom was more quiet and low key than the Hard Rock’s main lobby, which echoed with loud music, slot machine sounds, and craps dealers yelling out stick calls. Watch a video on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TalkingPointsWithJerryDavich.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” one gambler yelled when the number 33 hit at a roulette wheel.
For most gamblers, any weather is perfect gambling weather. As a rookie sports bettor, I was curious about Hard Rock’s sportsbook section. It isn’t yet opened. Underneath a row of video screens, a lone gambler sat at a counter taking a slow drag from his vice.
“Just taking a smoke break,” he said.
As a nonsmoker, I’m hypersensitive to cigarette smoke inside most casinos. I didn’t smell any inside the Hard Rock, and I didn’t smell like an ashtray afterward. I consider this a small jackpot win.
The easy-access, land-based entertainment complex offers 1,600 slot machines, 80 game tables, five restaurants, and a 2,000-seat entertainment venue. Phase two of the complex is scheduled to add a 200-room hotel and a multilevel parking garage.
Along Interstate 80/94, I noticed billboards from competing casinos trying their luck to divert motorists away from the glitzy new Hard Rock. I also noticed a Hard Rock billboard doing the same thing on my way to the lakefront casinos in north Lake County.
The Majestic Star boat now looks like a lonely, old broken-down gambler. Everyone has forgotten about it. There, I met with Chuck Hughes, president of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, who once “re-imagined” a much broader vision along Interstate 80/94. In 1995, he and other city officials courted the Jackson family for a massive museum complex and related attractions. Its scope — and hope — was much broader than the Hard Rock development.
“The opening of the new casino warms my heart, but it also made me a bit melancholy,” Hughes told me. “I am the sole surviving member of the Gary City Council, which was first to sponsor this gambling legislation.” (Look for my follow-up column later this week.)
Last month, I visited the neighborhood surrounding the Hard Rock casino, a downtrodden area that has experienced too many bad beats through the decades. Reactions from neighbors, churches and businesses were mixed about the new casino, which has dramatically altered that intersection at Burr Street and 29th Avenue.
“I’m about five minutes away and I couldn’t be more excited about the live entertainment venue,” one nearby resident said. “It will be nice to not have to travel out of the area for some great entertainment.”
Hosea-Jones and her family agreed. Her cousin, Wanda Jane Thomas, of Gary, said the casino’s planned hotel would be a smart gamble to attract outside tourists. “But there needs to be other businesses that can build a strong foundation for success,” Thomas said.
After Hosea-Jones left the casino, I asked if she won or lost.
“Well, I lost $20 because I didn’t know what I was doing,” she replied. “But it’s OK because I came to have fun and that I did.”
