Horseshoe Southern Indiana

Horseshoe Southern Indiana
View from the west
Address	11999 Casino Center Dr. SE Elizabeth, Indiana 47117
Opening date	November 20, 1998
Theme	Western/Riverboat
Number of rooms	503
Total gaming space	93,000-square-foot (8,600 m2)
Notable restaurants	Jack Binion's Steak House
Casino type	Riverboat
Owner	Caesars Entertainment Corporation
Previous names	Caesars Indiana (1998-2008)
Renovated in	2006-2008
Website	Horseshoe South Indiana

Horseshoe Southern Indiana (formerly Caesars Indiana), which locals often simply call "The Boat," is a riverboat casino operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation. Opened in 1998, it is located outside the community of Elizabeth, Indiana, across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. The complex is located at the Harrison County line. This is the closest legal gambling location to Louisville and the large Southern Indiana cities because casino gambling is not allowed in neighboring Floyd County.

The complex includes the four-deck riverboat (known as The Glory of Rome), which houses the gaming area; it is the largest riverboat in the United States, and the world's largest riverboat casino. Other amenities include a hotel, a pavilion, 7 restaurants and a showroom, two parking decks, and a golf course. Steelman Partners designed the riverboat, podium, and hotel.

On November 8, 1994, a ballot proposal to allow riverboat gambling was passed by the residents of Harrison County, Indiana, following legislation passed by the General Assembly to allow such gambling in the Hoosier state. In January 1995 five different proposals were given to the Indiana Gaming Commission in order to begin a riverboat gambling organization in Harrison County. Over a year passed before the proposition by the partnership of the ITT Corporation's Caesars division and Riverboat Development Incorporated (RDI) was approval, granting the Caesars World/Riverboat Development Incorporated partnership the preliminary license in May 1996.

The initial plan of the Caesars World/Riverboat Development Incorporated partnership was for the complex to cost $228 million, but by early 1998 the projected cost was raised to $275 million. They chose a site near Bridgeport, Indiana, an unincorporated town located immediately on the Harrison County side of the Harrison County/Floyd County border; the site is fifteen miles (24 km) southwest of Louisville, Kentucky (Kentucky's largest metropolis), and was selected after performing a study to determine the nearest accessible location (to the city) that would permit a riverboat casino to operate legally. Louisville officials attempted to delay the construction of Caesars Indiana, who wanted to protect the gambling revenue of Churchill Downs and other Kentucky horse racing interests. Environmental groups lodged similar complaints due to concerns regarding the potential negative impact of the proposed development on local air quality, waterways, and wildlife. The Caesars World/Riverboat Development Incorporated partnership had already spent $11 million on making necessary improvements to use the newly acquired property. A preliminary study by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in February 1998 determined that further environmental studies, which would have delayed the building of the necessary facilities for Caesars Indiana, were not necessary. However, the United States Army Corps of Engineers did caution the Caesars World/Riverboat Development Incorporated partnership to carefully consider the number of trees to be cleared and the impact on runoff water.