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Agreement Is Signed For MGM Casino Project In Springfield

WAMC

The mayor of Springfield Massachusetts and a top official with MGM Resorts International signed a casino development deal on Wednesday.  The signing ceremony marks the start of a campaign to convince the city’s voters to ratify the agreement.

      

       Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno declared it a bellweather moment  shortly before he signed the  agreement with MGM president Bill Hornbuckle.   Springfield which has suffered through natural disasters, plunging property values and stagnant employment will be guaranteed payments of more than $25 million a year and thousands of jobs if MGM builds the casino.

       The host community agreement with MGM was signed in front of more than 200 civic, business and government leaders in a ceremony at the Springfield convention center.   Hornbuckle urged the community leaders to support the project and to lobby city councilors and city voters.

       Hornbuckle said MGM is looking to hold the referendum in mid- July.

Credit WAMC
MGM Springfield President Bill Hornbuckle (l) and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno

       Sarno, who is a popular mayor,  said he’ll use all his political influence to  try to get the casino referendum approved.

       Sarno announced on Tuesday that he had selected MGM to build a casino in downtown Springfield after more than two months of parallel negotiations with MGM and another casino operator, Penn National.

                       Under the state law that allowed casino gambling to come to Massachusetts,  a voter- approved  host community agreement is a prerequisite for a state gaming license.  Other casino projects are proposed in Palmer and West Springfield and in the Greater Boston area.  Three casino licenses can be awarded, but only one is available in western Massachusetts.

                       But, before there  is a voter  referendum the agreement must be approved by the Springfield City Council.  Paula Meara, who chairs the council’s casino site selection committee, said she’s eager to look  into what MGM has committed to the city.

       MGM has been aggressively marketing its casino project in Springfield since it was first unveiled last summer.  There are billboards, lawn signs and TV commercials. Company officials have held  scores of meetings in the community.  The company claims polling shows a majority of Springfield residents favor the project.

       But State Representative Cheryl Coakley-Rivera cautioned the  outcome of a casino vote is not certain.

       Mohegan Sun officials recently announced plans to hold a vote by September on a casino project in Palmer.  No timetable has been discussed publicly as yet for a referendum on Hard Rock International’s casino project in West Springfield.

       The state gaming commission expects to begin awarding licenses in the first quarter of 2014.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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