The Connecticut border town of East Windsor revealed the site that it will be pitching as the host of a satellite casino to MMCT, the entity that combines the gaming activities of the Mohegan and Pequot tribes.
The 33-acre parcel is near Interstate 91 and less than ten miles from the state’s border with the Bay State. It is currently the site of a U-Haul rental and an industrial and farming supply company, according to the Hartford Courant.
The casino developer would be Centerplan Cos., East Windsor First Selectman Bob Maynard revealed last week. Residents of the city have greeted the announcement with mixed reactions.
Some worry that the school system will be adversely impact and that the city’s roads will not be able to accommodate the additional traffic. Others question the suitability of CenterPlan as the developer because of reports of problems that it had building Hartford’s baseball stadium.
MMCT at first planned to choose a site by December 15 but pushed back that date indefinitely when potential host communities said it would be difficult for them to meet that deadline to submit firm proposals. There is currently no deadline according to an MMCT spokesman quoted by the Republican.
So far four communities have submitted five proposals. They include East Hartford, East Windsor, Hartford and Windsor Locks.
Mohegan Tribal Chairman Kevin Brown has made it plain that the purpose of the casino is to keep jobs and cash from bleeding in the direction of the MGM Springfield being built by MGM.
Brown declared recently: “This process began to preserve thousands of jobs and millions in revenue which will leave Connecticut, the loss of which MGM has repeatedly acknowledged is necessary to make their project in Springfield a success.” He added, “As members of communities with deep ties to this state, we’re simply not going to let that happen without a fight. With this phase complete, we can now begin to engage interested parties and save Connecticut jobs.”
Once the site is chosen it will still require a vote of the legislature to authorize it to proceed. A point that the state Attorney General has made in his filings to quash a lawsuit by MGM challenging the constitutionality of the law that authorized the two gaming tribes to begin the siting process.
