Her administration has also entered into a series of financial and operational arrangements with Caesars. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has described the casino, which opened August 26, as a future anchor institution, a designation which put it in the rarefied company of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Loyola University and other so-called “eds and meds” touting their value to taxpayers as good civic citizens and job creators. Caesars holds a 50-year lease with the city to rent the land occupied by the new facility on Russell Street.

Unlike the Grand Prix, City Hall’s previous attempt to bring splashy entertainment to downtown, Horseshoe Casino will be part of Baltimore’s economic landscape for years to come. The latter could cause serious reputational damage to the fledging casino and lead to job cutbacks and lower paychecks among the 2,400-member workforce, as has happened at Atlantic City casinos. The question for stakeholders – including Baltimore City and employees at the Horseshoe Casino – is whether a Caesars receivership will go swiftly and quietly, as company executives hope, or erupt into a messy financial battle. Today the company announced that it will not pay $225 million in bond interest, triggering a default that could lead to a bankruptcy filing as early as January 15. Months of behind-the-scenes talks with creditors have led debt-ridden Caesars Entertainment Corp.

When will horseshoe casino open back up