Tribes field five proposals for a third Connecticut casino
East Hartford, East Windsor, Hartford and Windsor Locks groups say they’re interested
MMCT Venture, the Mashantucket Pequot-Mohegan partnership formed to pursue a third Connecticut casino, received five responses Friday to its request for proposals, including two from entities hoping to land a casino at or near Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.
“Entities in East Hartford, East Windsor, Hartford and Windsor Locks have expressed an interest in being part of the effort to save jobs and revenue in Connecticut,” the partnership announced soon after the 4 p.m. deadline.
The proposed casino — which the state legislature would have to approve — would help the tribes’ southeastern Connecticut casinos deal with the competitive threat posed by MGM Springfield, the $800 million resort casino being built miles from Connecticut’s northern border.
The partnership released no information about the submissions it received Friday.
During the day, however, the East Hartford mayor’s office made East Hartford’s entire 300-page submission available, providing details of Silver Lane Partners’ plan to develop a gaming and entertainment complex off Interstate 84, a site now occupied by a former Showcase Cinemas building.
Hours later, the Connecticut Airport Authority, Bradley’s operator, confirmed that it had responded to the tribe’s RFP (request for proposals).
Still later, Ted Taylor, president of Sportech Venues, which operates the state’s off-track-betting facilities, including Bradley Teletheater, near the airport, confirmed that he had filed a response to the RFP.
Details about the submissions from East Windsor and Hartford could not be learned, though East Windsor First Selectwoman Denise Menard had indicated earlier that her town would propose a site on I-91 that incorporates a former Showcase Cinemas and a former Walmart.
Dillon described the airport authority’s proposal as “incomplete,”
lacking a required sign-off from the town of Windsor Locks, whose three-member Board of Selectmen turned over in Tuesday’s municipal elections.
“We anticipate Windsor Locks will take up the issue at one of the first meetings of the new Board of Selectmen,” Dillon said.
Current selectmen failed last week to second a motion calling for the town to partner with the authority in submitting a proposal.
Taylor said Sportech also filed without an endorsement from the town. It decided to do so, he said, after the tribes, recognizing that the elections could cause upheaval, indicated they would accept incomplete submissions by Friday’s deadline. “The airport wants to be involved, and we’re saying the same thing — we want to be involved,” Taylor said.
A casino at the airport could threaten Bradley Teletheater, which employs about 100 people.
Earlier this year, a bill that would have allowed the installation of slot machines at Bradley Teletheater and some other OTB facilities failed to gain traction.
Under their gaming compacts with the state, the tribes, which operate southeastern Connecticut’s casinos, would have had to agree to such an expansion of gaming.
As Friday’s deadline approached, a state lawmaker critical of the RFP process expressed disappointment in the tribes’ acceptance of “incomplete” proposals, a policy that revived the Bradley airport plan.
“It’s as if the deck is stacked against our local decision-makers,” state Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said in a statement. “How can anyone trust this process if the rules change mid-stream? These plans were shot down at the local level. Why bother having town councils or Planning and Zoning Commissions if their decisions are ignored?”
A proposal involving the Enfield Square Mall, which had failed to win favor with officials in Enfield, failed to materialize Friday.
“From the very beginning, I was wary of this process,” Kissel said. “It was one of the many reasons why I voted against the casino expansion legislation. These actions bear out that mistrust. So much for home rule. So much for rules at all. This is a sham, it is undemocratic, and frankly, it appears illegal. Taxpayers in north-central Connecticut and throughout the state can see what the tribes are doing.”
East Hartford, in its submission, stressed that the Silver Lane Partners’ proposal has strong backing from town officials.
“The RFP submitted today represents 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,” Mayor Marcia Leclerc wrote. “I think it is clear that our proposal stands out as the most viable and complete option being submitted to MMCT Venture.”
Leclerc said an East Hartford casino would complement an approved retail development in the same area, the Outlet Shoppes at Rentschler Field, as well as a new Pratt & Whitney world headquarters and an expansion of the United Technologies Research Center.
Dillon, the airport authority official, said the authority was treating its submission as “proprietary” and would not disclose it publicly.