Ms. Kathleen Lane

Kathleen Lane, president of Downtown Evansville Inc., said several franchise restaurants, such as Starbucks and Cavanaugh's, have been drawn downtown to the Aztar pavilion.

"For us, we have seen a ripple effect," Lane said."The good thing is they've attracted new chains.Although they are located in the pavilion, before the boat came, chains didn't consider coming to downtown Evansville."

The casino is also a good tourism draw for the city, Lane said."Whenever you have a riverboat, you draw convention and tourism business," she said."I think it spurs a lot of growth and brings in a lot of out-of-towners as well.

"I don't know what we would do if we didn't have the casino here," Lane said."We definitely would not see the growth we have."The casino has also tried to work with other downtown businesses to promote mutual commerce, Lane said.

"They have been so community oriented," she said."They make sure all the businesses downtown have casino passes.They are a big sponsor of our marketing campaign. (Merchants) don't feel like Casino Aztar has taken anything away of their business."

Contractors who are interested in the project may contact Kathleen Lane at 812-424-2986 x 24.

Kathleen Lane, president of Downtown Evansville, Inc., said several franchise restaurants, such as Starbucks, Cavanaugh's have been drawn downtown to the Aztar pavilion.

"For us, we have seen a ripple effect," Lane said."The good thing is they've attracted three new chains.Although they are located in the pavilion, before the boat came, chains didn't consider coming to downtown Evansville."

The casino is also a good tourism draw for the city, Lane said."Whenever you have a riverboat, you draw convention and tourism business," she said."I think it spurs a lot of growth, and brings in a lot of out of towners as well.

"I don't know what we would do if we didn't have the casino here," Lane said."We definitely would not see the growth we have."The casino has also tried to work with other downtown businesses to promote mutual commerce, Lane said.

"They have been so community-oriented," she said."They make sure all the business downtown have casino passes.They are a big sponsor of our marketing campaign. (Merchants) don't feel like Casino Aztar has taken anything away of their business."

Kathleen Lane, President, Downtown Evansville, Inc., 812-421-9877

Kathleen Lane, President of Downtown Evansville, Inc., speaking on behalf of the Evansville Freedom Festival announced earlier today that the Budweiser Thunder on the Ohio would go forward despite concerns over high water levels.

Speaking with Hydro-Prop's own Amy Sullivan, Ms. Lane explained, "Mother Nature is cooperating and the boat races are definitely a GO for this weekend!