Two companies have expressed interest in buying Casino Aztar, according to Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel.
And Weinzapfel said Friday he has also heard of two or three others that might want to acquire the casino.
"In general, this is a valuable property and a valuable license," he said. "I think there are a number of companies that would love to come to Evansville and operate this casino if the price is right."
The mayor declined, though, to divulge the companies' names.
The owner of Casino Aztar, Columbia Sussex Corp., announced in December that it would sell the casino to avoid bankruptcy. The company was in danger of defaulting on its debts after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission revoked Columbia Sussex's license to run the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City.
Earlier this week, Ernest Yelton, executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, which had been asked to investigate Columbia Sussex's management of Aztar, said the commission plans to make a decision regarding the company when it meets in March. The commission will take a "concrete action," Yelton said, declining to elaborate.
However, the Gaming Commission has suspended its formal investigation into Columbia Sussex, which has its headquarters in Fort Mitchell, Ky.
"We are awaiting further indication of their intention to sell," Yelton said. "Should that occur, that would most likely render the investigation moot. But since it has not been sold, we are not formally terminating the investigation."
Yelton said the commission has not decided when it will meet in March.
The Indiana Gaming Commission began to investigate Columbia Sussex's operation of Casino Aztar at the request of Weinzapfel, who accused the company of breaking promises made when it purchased the casino. The company had said it would keep employed the roughly 1,200 people who had worked there, the mayor said. Yet, shortly after Columbia Sussex took ownership of Casino Aztar in January 2007, it began to lay off workers.
While no one has stepped forward to express a formal interest in buying Casino Aztar, a couple of companies have made bids on Columbia Sussex's Tropicana.
Last month, Joseph Palladino, a New York businessman, offered to buy Tropicana for $950 million. Shortly before, Colony Capital LLC of Los Angeles had said it would buy that casino for $850 million.
Owen Blicksilver, spokesman for Colony Capital, declined to say Friday whether that company is interested in Aztar. A representative of Palladino couldn't be reached Friday.
Weinzapfel declined to say if the companies are among those interested in buying Aztar.