It’s been 51 weeks since Churchill Downs Inc. broke ground on the Terre Haute Casino Resort – Wednesday, the project celebrated another milestone.

CDI representatives, Terre Haute and Vigo County leaders, state lawmakers, and more gathered at the construction site for a topping-off ceremony.

Terre Haute Casino Resort Vice President and General Manager Mike Rich shared that topping off ceremonies can be traced back to a Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease tree-dwelling spirits displaced by the construction.

While Wednesday’s ceremony did include a tree, the bigger message for the day was that the project has reached an important turning point.