Hammond, Indiana (AP) - Construction of a new USD 485 million Horseshoe Casino in Hammond is ahead of schedule and is expected to open in late summer instead of early fall. Casino officials say their full-time payroll is expected to jump from around 2,300 employees to 2,700 when the new facility opens. The Horseshoe project includes new gaming rooms, restaurants and a theater designed to draw Las Vegas-style entertainment.

Horseshoe Casino in Hammond is one of two casinos under scrutiny from state legislators. Their question: Is it a building or a boat? In this year's session of the General Assembly, lawmakers considered a measure that would have permitted casinos to pay a USD 25 million fee to go from a riverboat to a barge -- allowing them to more cheaply build bigger facilities on platforms instead of boats. It was never passed.

Hammond - Workers are seaming together pieces of a new Horseshoe casino platform, after the last two of six modules were floated into the Hammond Marina. The completed platform will be 320 feet by 564 feet, nearly as big as two football fields and six times the size of the existing riverboat casino. Structural steel to form the skeleton of the new casino will be applied starting in August, Horseshoe spokesperson Shelby Curry said.