Connecticut’s gaming tribes, the Mohegans and Pequots, received five proposals from four communities near the Massachusetts state line wanting to host their jointly operated satellite casino that the tribes hope will keep money and jobs from flowing across into the Bay State.
The tribes are handling these proposals through their MMCT Venture arm. Friday was the deadline for submissions.
The towns that submitted proposals include East Hartford, East Windsor, Hartford and Windsor Locks. Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council Rodney Butler hailed the submissions, “The response we’ve received since releasing the RFP has been overwhelming. Our mission hasn’t changed. We want this new facility to be located in a community that wants us there and values the jobs and revenue we’ll bring.”
The tribes will now assess the proposals and make a decision by December 15.
Before any casino may be built the state legislature must act to approve of it. It cannot do that before February when it is in session again.
One of the proposals is to convert the old Showcase Cinemas in East Hartford, located adjacent to Interstate 84, into a casino on 25 acres. Mayor Marcia Leclerc calls the project a “fully compliant package of municipal support, quick time to market, extremely high visibility from the highway and easy access from the Greater Hartford region.” She noted that 130,000 cars drive past the site a day.
The city of Hartford didn’t identify an actual sit because the city is in the process of transitioning from outgoing Mayor Pedro Segarra to incoming Mayor Luke Bronin. Segarra said the city wanted to “keep that door open.”
The Connecticut Airport Authority said it wants to develop a casino at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, despite that proposal being opposed by the city council.
Finally, East Windsor has several vacant properties that could be utilized for a casino, according to First Selectman Denise Menard. These include a former cinema, a Wal-Mart and a defunct wedding venue.
The purpose of the satellite casino is to prevent the MGM Springfield from draining away as many jobs and cash from the existing Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos as it might do without a casino posted along the border between the two states.
The two casinos have seen profits decline in recent years even without competition from Massachusetts. Their revenues have declined 38 percent from their peak, which they achieved shortly before the Great Recession.
Critics, such as former U.S. Rep. Robert Steele, are skeptical about a third casino. He wrote last week rhetorically asking whether building a third casino would, “in fact, entail doubling down on a declining state industry that comes with a mountain of economic and social problems that would far outweigh any benefits?”
He wonders if such a casino wouldn’t rely on Connecticut residents. “The casino’s customer base would be heavily skewed to state residents, which would mean most of its revenue and jobs would be funded by the gambling losses of Connecticut people, resulting in simply redistributing money within the state and doing little to create any net new economic value.”
