The City of Hammond and the Hammond Port Authority announced that the Hammond Marina, home of the Horseshoe Casino and one of the most popular stops on the Great Lakes would be rededicated next week to honor former mayor, Thomas M. McDermott, Sr.
“If it wasn’t for Mayor Tom Sr.’s vision and wherewithal, the City of Hammond wouldn’t have this beautiful space and economic engine that has helped Hammond compete and thrive over the past 30 years,” said Milan Kruszynski, Director of the Hammond Port Authority.
The marina came at significant political and personal cost to the former mayor who had to convince a very skeptical city council that investing $23 Million in the late 1980’s to construct the marina was money well spent. When the marina opened in 1991 its success was anything but guaranteed—1000 new slips and bringing in an old Great Lakes passenger ship, the Milwaukee Clipper, for entertainment was the initial push by the city. Mayor McDermott Sr.’s bet paid off, however, when the State of Indiana awarded the City of Hammond a casino license in 1996 due in part to the fact that the infrastructure was already in place. Since then Hammond has enjoyed being one of the most successful casino cities in the Midwest.
“Whenever I’m at the marina I always think about what my dad did up here,” said Hammond’s current mayor Thomas M. McDermott, Jr. “All the economic development dollars we have enjoyed as a city, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have the casino and marina. We’ve got my dad to thank for that and I think renaming the marina is a fitting tribute.”
The marina will now be known as the “Thomas M. McDermott, Sr. Hammond Marina.” A rededication ceremony will be held on Friday, October 13, 2023 at the Hammond Marina 701 Casino Center Drive, Hammond, at 3:00 p.m. with coffee and cake to follow in the Clipper Room.
