Terre Haute forecast 2021.

• Author: Guell, Robert

When it comes to timing and economics, Terre Haute seems to have had horrifyingly bad luck. Over the last 20 years, major companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Vigo County only to see events seemingly conspire against them--and by extension, against the regional economy.

CertainTeed built a siding plant to feed a voracious housing market in 2007. Boral Brick did the same, utilizing cheap methane from a landfill at the same time that the housing market collapsed and natural gas prices plummeted. Pfizer invested heavily in an inhaled insulin facility only to find that there was no market for such a product. Sony DADC won a platform competition with Toshiba, positioning its Terre Haute facility as the exclusive production operation for Blu-ray discs. Instead of being a boon for the local economy, video streaming services have obliterated the market for physical media.

Given this curious history, it is perhaps ironic that a global pandemic might just lead things to work out marvelously for Terre Haute in the coming months and years. Here's what we mean...

Had the "Rocksino" (don't blame us, that is the name the owners of the new casino-music venue gave it) succeeded in being approved in the 2017 legislative session, it would have been built in time to open in late 2019 or early 2020. What an unmitigated disaster that would have been. Instead, having just recently cleared its final regulatory hurdle, it will be built in 2021 just in time for a vaccine to allow patrons--with their pent-up demand--to get out and enjoy themselves again.

Similarly, had Indiana State University (ISU) and the city of Terre Haute managed to agree in 2015 to incorporate the $37.5 million Hulman Center renovations into the construction of a new downtown convention center, it would likely be in its first year of operation in 2020. Instead, the negotiations stalled, ISU went its own way with Hulman Center (with renovations completed in late 2020) and construction on the city's new convention center construction is just now getting underway.

Both the casino and the convention center projects (likely to contribute more than $150 million in construction spending) are now likely to open in late 2021, ready to greet eager patrons in a post-pandemic world. For once, the timing couldn't be more perfect. Add to that an unexpected coup of a $40 million Veteran's Administration clinic on the city's east side, the construction business in Terre Haute will be...