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A planned casino in Terre Haute will be smoke-free inside but will feature a heated outdoor patio with up to 117 slot machines and eight table games to accommodate customers who want to smoke while gambling.
The Rocksino—a partnership between Hard Rock Casino and Terre Haute development firm Spectacle Jack LLC—will be the first in the state to have a smoke-free interior. Casinos are an exception to the state’s smoking ban.
Spectacle Chairman Greg Gibson sought to make the casino smoke-free to accommodate Terre Haute’s smoking ordinances—among the strictest in the state—and because of the region’s poor health outcomes, company officials said.
“Recognizing we had to make a good business decision for the company to maintain a solid financial ground for the future and provide a welcoming entertainment facility for all Hoosiers and guests, we had to look at data, become creative and benchmark other facilities which were successful with this model,” Gibson said in a statement.
The smoking patio will have large ceiling fans to circulate air and exhaust fans to move air out of the space. Overhead heaters will be installed for winter.
The casino building will include a heating and air system that will create positive pressure so outside air—including that from the smoking patio—will be prevented from entering when doors are opened.
The patio will feature about 15% of the 1,060 gambling positions the casino plans to install.•
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