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Ballot Question Considered On MGM Springfield Casino Redesign

An artists rendering of the proposed MGM Casino in Springfield, MA
MGMSpringfield

Voters in Springfield may get a chance to weigh- in on the controversial changes proposed for MGM’s resort casino project. 

Springfield City Councilors at a special meeting Tuesday will consider adding a non-binding referendum to the Nov. 3 election ballot. 

The question proposed by council president Mike Fenton asks if voters support changing the development agreement between MGM and the city to eliminate a high-rise glass façade hotel from the casino project.

"My point is if the Springfield taxpayers enabled this facility to exist and to get this far, if they want to make this type of substantial change they should be asked again how they feel about that type of change," Fenton said.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has promised a “long hard look” at the proposed redesign of the $800 million project, which MGM said was necessitated by skyrocketing costs.

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.