French Lick Springs Resort & Casino: West Baden Springs Resort included in the $368 million project of new construction and restoration.

• Author: Tricker, Jennifer
• Position: HOTELS & RESORTS

THE WEST BADEN

Springs Resort was among the top 10 most endangered historic landmarks in the nation. That is, until Cook Group Inc. decided to get involved. Contacted by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, the global medical device technology company decided it was time to get involved in a big way.

When Steve Ferguson, chairman of the Bloomington-based company, first visited the facility, he didn't believe it would last through the winter. "If we didn't save it, it wouldn't be saved," he says. "The site is significant architecturally and historically, and we decided we could do it, and it needed to be done."

The original construction of West Baden Springs Resort presented daunting challenges--namely finding an architect to build the giant freestanding dome. Harrison Albright, a railroad engineer, was ultimately up to the challenge, designing intricate steel structures resembling bridge trusses. Until the Houston Astrodome opened in 1963, the six-story atrium dome of West Baden held bragging rights as the largest clear-standing dome in the world. "Outside of sporting arenas, this may still be the case," says Ferguson. Interior guest rooms have balconies that overlook the mosaic-tiled atrium floor in what is described as a modern-day court of Pompeii.

With $37 million already invested, the West Baden Springs Resort will reopen in spring 2007, and the nearby French Lick Springs Resort & Casino in December of 2006, as part of a $368 million project of new construction and restoration.

French Lick Springs was a one-time gathering spot for such legendary figures as Al Capone and the Marx Brothers, and it hosted a Democratic National Governor's Conference in the 1930s. "Eight trainloads of visitors came every day in its heyday of the teens...