Majestic Star Casino and parent company Spectacle Entertainment assisted in the City of Gary’s “Blight Buster Day” cleanup on Saturday, October 19. Local residents, businesses, community and faith-based organizations participated in the event.
New Macedonia Baptist Church, located on Waite Street in Gary, hosted the day with introductions by Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and a welcome prayer by Pastor Dr. Chester Jones.
Spectacle Entertainment Executive Vice President of Operations and General Manager Jahnae Erpenbach addressed the group by saying, “As I look out at all these beautiful faces here today, I want to say we are so happy to be a part of this important effort and we’re excited about the good things happening in Gary. Exciting times are ahead, and all of us at Spectacle Entertainment are so pleased to take the next step as we move forward in our partnership with the City of Gary.”
The cleanup crew spread out over a multi-block area, with a focus on W. 25th Ave. from Grant to Burr St., removing low-hanging tree limbs, raking leaves and clearing trash. Among the debris, several notable items collected included an old shoe, automobile tires, blankets, towels, alcohol bottles and lots of broken glass.
Mayor Freeman-Wilson stated, “We want to thank our General Manager of Majestic Star Casino and Vice President of Spectacle and the entire Majestic team. We are so excited to have you here; we are ecstatic to have you here. But we really, really appreciate the partnership that we continue to enjoy and we can’t wait to see it go to another level.”
Last summer, Spectacle Entertainment unveiled plans to rebrand Majestic Star Casinos with a $400 million Hard Rock Casino entertainment complex. The project is expected to create more than 1,000 construction jobs and about 2,000 casino jobs.
The casino will employ approximately 2,000 workers, more than double the 800 current employees at the two Majestic Star casino boats, which Spectacle purchased in March.
The new complex will open in 2022 adjacent to the Borman Expressway at Burr Street and 29th Avenue. In addition to a Hard Rock casino, it will include a Hard Rock Café, a Hard Rock Live concert venue, restaurants, and bars, on 40 acres.
