Baltimore Mayor Welcomes Horseshoe Casino With Big Reveal

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The stage has been set for one of the newest additions to downtown Baltimore.

Marcus Washington reports Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake made a big reveal in honor of the Horseshoe Casino.

It's been months in the making and the Horseshoe Casino is almost open. The majority of the lanes of Russell Street are open and Tuesday, the mayor welcomed the casino with a street sign.

With the pull of a string, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake extended the city's welcome mat.

"Welcome to Casino Way, everyone," she said.

With less than a month until the opening of the new Horseshoe Casino in downtown Baltimore, a portion of Bayard Street was renamed in honor of the newest neighborhood addition.

Construction of the $442 million casino generated 2,000 construction jobs and, once complete, 1,700 permanent jobs will be filled.

"That will attract millions of visitors each year and extend Baltimore's tourism district south of the Inner Harbor and M&T Bank Stadium," said Noah Hirsch, Horseshoe Casino.

Hope for the new facility is to transform this portion of downtown, while driving even more business to the local economy---including new restaurants inside the casino to more stays at hotels nearby. But most of all, the goal is to get folks inside to take a try at Lady Luck.

"We're going to use the revenue to continue to reduce property taxes, to fund school construction and recreation centers in the city," Rawlings-Blake said.

Horseshoe Casino is sure to generate a lot of revenue but one of its biggest competitors is advertising directly across the street.

"Be sure to mark your calendars for August 26 at 9 p.m. It's going to be an amazing night and the start of great entertainment tradition here in downtown Baltimore," Hirsch said.

The casino has already started to pour money into the city. The improvements of Russell Street in front of the building was paid for by the casino.

In the first six months of this year, the total gross from Maryland casinos was more than $578 million.

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