The Massachusetts Gaming Commission last week held a public forum in Holbrook’s junior-senior high school to hear from local residents whether it should issue the southeastern gaming zone (aka Region C) license to the 7 million casino resort proposed for the Brockton Fairgrounds.
The commission says it plans to make a decision whether to award the license at its March meeting.
Obviously weighing heavily on the commission’s decision-making will be the Mashpee Wampanoag’s casino resort that it hopes to build in Taunton. The tribe recently had land in that city put into trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, meaning that it can build a casino there.
It didn’t send a representative to the hearing. The tribe has called on the commission not to issue a commercial license, claiming that it would violate the tribal state gaming compact the tribe signed with former Governor Deval Patrick.
Anti-casino activist Richard Reid, who represents Stand Up Brockton, told the commission: “We’re looking at the aspect of saturation.” If the tribe builds and so does Brockton, the Bay State will have four casinos, he said.
If the tribe operates a casino without any competition in Region C it is committed to paying 17 percent to the state. With competition in Brockton it would pay nothing, however, the Brockton casino would pay 25 percent.
Another possible wrinkle is a federal lawsuit that opponents of the Taunton casino have promised to file.
Wynn Everett
Now that Steve Wynn and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh have made peace, nothing appears to stand in the way of the $1.7 billion casino being built in Everett along the Mystic River.
A few small obstacles remain, including the continuing lawsuit by the City of Somerville, whose mayor, Joseph Curtatone declared last week, “We believe a massive casino next door to the city of Somerville would greatly impact our quality of life and health.” He added, “What Boston does has no bearing on what we do in Somerville.”
Somerville and Boston were once allies, but Boston agreed two weeks ago to drop its lawsuit in exchange for $400,000 extra each year. Wynn will also earmark $25 million to upgrade Sullivan Square in Charlestown and provide $2 million annual for youth groups and art programs.
Some residents are skeptical that Wynn’s contributions will do anything to improve traffic in Sullivan Square. One resident, Bill Peltier, told Yogonet, “That’s not going to fix the problem.” He believes that flyover ramps should be built to bring traffic to the casino and bypass the crowded intersection.
Charlestown resident Geoffrey Harrison, who retired years ago, is a frequent habitué of New England casinos. “I love the noise. I love the environment,” he says, and when told that the Wynn Everett will open in 2018, responds: “Too slow!”
That leaves Somerville, which is challenging the state’s environmental review of the casino.
Another city that is suing to stop the casino is Revere. A court threw out the suit in December and the city has appealed. However a new mayor took office in January and has yet to say whether he will keep the suit alive.
So at this point, say industry experts, only a dramatic series of events in Macau could stop the Everett Casino. Says Richard McGowan, a Boston College professor who specializes in gaming: “The only thing that could blow Wynn out of the water in Everett at this point is a major downturn in his casino in Macau If that happens, Wynn might have trouble financing his casino in Everett.” He added, “Wynn has huge momentum in his favor, and I basically don’t see anything that can stop him now.”
Perhaps the biggest challenge of building the casino is the fact that its 33-acre footprint includes land contaminated by the former Monsanto chemical plant that operated there for decades.
Work crews have been working on the site for months, removing lead, sulfur and arsenic from the soil. They have conducted thousands of test borings to see if there is a more serious presence but haven’t found anything else.
Wynn recently selected Suffolk Construction Co, the largest construction company in the state for what many describe as the largest private construction in the state’s history. About 4,000 construction workers will be employed.
Robert DeSalvio, president of Wynn Everett, declared last week, “Building a five-star resort that meets the Wynn quality standards requires attention to detail that is unwavering. Suffolk Construction shares our values and is working with us full speed to meet our ground-breaking target.”
The project includes a luxury hotel with 600 rooms in a 24-story signature Wynn glass tower and a casino with 4,500 slots and other types of games.
MGM Springfield
The Springfield City Council has scheduled two more meetings on the $950 million MGM Springfield casino project. The council is likely to vote on the proposed changes to the casino resort plans, including a 10 percent downsize.
The 13-member council has already held four 90-minute meetings on the changes.
Council President Michael Fenton said that the additional meetings, on February 17 & 22, would not harm the project. He said, “None of these deliberations have delayed, or will delay MGM in any way, shape or form. I have been in constant contact with MGM. The public should be assured that the council has given them (MGM) the necessary permissions so they can continue to complete their work on schedule.”
Those approvals allow MGM to move forward on demolition and site preparation. MGM is projecting that the casino resort will open in September of 2018.
Fenton characterized the project as the biggest the city has seen, with many details that need to be studied and approved.
Fenton told the Republican, “It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” adding, “We have a lot of work to get done and I want us to act as diligently and efficiently as possible. This is a big project, certainly the biggest project the city has ever seen. There is a lot of detail to review and the council is doing its best to get to every issue appropriate.”
Meanwhile the Michelman/Burstein law firm, which unsuccessfully tried to sell its building in the South End to the casino developer has asked the city to require that the casino provide free reserved parking for the firm and its tenants and to be allowed to park large trash bins on casino land.
The law office claims that the casino project will create a hardship, saying that the casino will cause, “substantial changes to the land uses surrounding Parcel #14, and the grave risk to the safety of the public, and the occupants and residents.” The law firm has also sued in Massachusetts Land Court.
MGM has responded with this statement: “A construction project of this scale brings an expected amount of disruption, and we have always anticipated addressing any reasonable direct impacts. Our construction team’s top priority is safety. We appreciate that the city’s Planning Department confirmed that our scheduled upgrades will improve, not reduce, safety for Parcel 14 tenants.”
Michelman claims that MGM entered into a contract to buy the building in 2012 and then pulled out of the agreement in 2014. It claims that its employees have been allowed to park at adjacent properties for years but that this will be removed by the casino’s construction.
MGM responds that the law firm is “inappropriately seeking to use the zoning process to obtain valuable improvements to their property, which they did not previously enjoy.”
The firm is one of several abutting property owners to submit proposed conditions to the council. The concerns raised include noise, lighting, traffic flow and traffic congestion.
