By Carrie Napoleon, Post-Tribune correspondent
Beginning in May, visitors to Hammond will start seeing the first of the dramatic changes to the shoreline brought about by the $485 million expansion of the Horseshoe casino.
The Hammond Marina will open May 1 after closing last season to allow for the expansive construction project at Horseshoe.
Meanwhile, construction of the casino is progressing ahead of schedule with the opening expected in late summer instead of early fall, according to Rick Mazer, Indiana regional president and general manager of Horseshoe Casino Hammond.
The Horseshoe project includes construction of an entirely new casino product. In addition to the new gaming rooms, the casino will feature a number of new restaurants and new theater designed to draw Las Vegas-style entertainment to the region.
"The level of design is comparable to any of the finest casinos in Las Vegas," Mazer said.
Horseshoe has employed 600 union construction workers daily on the project since construction began. When the casino opens Mazer said he expects the full-time payroll to jump from around 2,300 employees to 2,700.
Once construction is complete and the new facility ready to open casino officials will implement the plan in place to shut down the existing casino. All the chips will have to be replaced and a timeline for redemption of existing chips established. Some equipment also will have to be moved.
While work has been under way at the new casino, games at the existing facility are constantly updated. Mazer said gamblers can get a sneak peek at the decor of the new casino when they check out the laminate on some of the new video poker machines at the existing facility, which will be moved.
Mayor Tom McDermott said this major construction project represents a significant commitment by Harrah's Corp. to the city of Hammond. It was also a big decision for the city especially when it came to shutting the marina for a season.
"It was a difficult decision to shut down the marina for a year, I'm not going to lie," McDermott said. He is hopeful improvements at the marina will help bring back its loyal users.
Milan Kruzynski, director of the Port Authority, said time was well spent during that off-season.
"The marina is about 17 years old. This gave us an opportunity to update everything," Kruzynski said.
The Horseshoe construction caused the marina to reconfigure the slips. In 2006, there were 982 slips, and this year, because part of the marina area is still tied up with construction, there will be 692. He said the final slip count will be around 900 in 2009 when all work is complete.
There are about 150 slips still available for permit for this season.
This year the marina will also offer day rental of small slips for personal watercraft often used by boat owners. He said this was done as a convenience for boaters, who often don't have a place to dock their smaller craft near their boat slip.
All of the pedestals where boaters connect to electricity have been replaced.
As part of the construction project the harbor was dredged and that sand was used to replenish Lakefront Beach.
"It rivals the beach at the dunes," he said.
Another $250,000 was spent on improving the trail through the bird sanctuary that wraps the property.
McDermott said the improvements at the marina and the casino will be an economic boon to the local community.
The 200 to 300 additional full-time jobs that will be added at the casino will help the local economy. McDermott said Horseshoe has been good about employing local residents.
The investment will also increase the assessed value and lower the tax rate in the city.
McDermott said the location as the first casino in Indiana nearest Chicago has been helpful and he expects the new casino to be an even bigger draw.
"There's going to be a lot more visitors to the Hammond marina. I think this is going to be a total success," McDermott said.