MGM Springfield casino project reaches construction milestone
Final steel beam placed atop what will be a hotel rotunda on Main Street in the Bay State city
With Connecticut lawmakers grappling with bills aimed at corralling the state’s casino-goers, city officials in Springfield, Mass., celebrated on Wednesday the construction progress being made on MGM Springfield, the $950 million resort casino scheduled to open next year.
MGM, in a news release, provided details of a “topping off” ceremony held in connection with the last steel beam being put in place atop what will be a hotel rotunda along Springfield’s Main Street. Before it was hoisted, the beam was signed by construction workers and dignitaries, and adorned with an American flag and a symbolic tree, a ritual signaling that a building has reached its final height.
Deemed the largest private investment in western Massachusetts history, MGM Springfield will employ 3,000 permanent workers, 90 percent of whom are expected to come from the region, according to MGM.
MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis, Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, other state and local officials and labor leaders took part in the celebration.
“Every day this site becomes more of a reality for the city,” Sarno said. “The footprint and future of our downtown is transforming, and our citizens are feeling the excitement. Today is a great day and we will build on this momentum with a cooperative spirit so MGM Springfield can open its doors in September 2018 and let the world know Springfield is open for business.”
The Springfield project worries Connecticut entities, particularly the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, respective owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun. The tribes have proposed building a $300 million “satellite” casino in East Windsor, about 15 miles south of Springfield, to combat the expected impact of the Massachusetts facility.
The legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee has forwarded both a bill that would enable the tribes to proceed with their project and another one that would instead establish a competitive process for selecting a third-casino operator.
Both bills were moved along Wednesday by the Legislative Commissioners’ Office, a step in the legislative process.
As written, the state Senate bill authorizing a joint venture of the tribes to operate a commercial casino in East Windsor would require the tribes and the governor to agree on amendments to the state-tribal compacts that granted the tribes the exclusive right to operate slot machines in Connecticut. Such amendments would have to be approved by the legislature and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The House bill calling for competitive bidding would require the state Department of Consumer Protection to issue a request for casino proposals. Responding entities would have to agree to make a capital investment of at least $300 million in the proposed facility and pay the state at least 35 percent of gross slot-machine revenue and at least 10 percent from all other games. Applicants would have to demonstrate the ability to pay a fee of $250 million for a 10-year license. They would have to reach an agreement with the host municipality, subject that agreement to a local referendum and agree to pay the host municipality $8 million annually.
Applications would have to be submitted with a $5 million fee that would be refunded if the applicant is not chosen. The fee would be waived for the tribes.
A third bill could yet emerge from the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, which has until April 11 to submit legislation and until April 28 to act on it. A bill would have to clear both the House and the Senate before Gov. Dannel P. Malloy could consider signing it into law.