The construction of MGM’s new $800 million casino resort in Springfield’s South End is like a 33-month-long marathon, and things are heating up. Exercise your right to stay up-to-date by joining us for a quick lap through the most recent casino news. Here are the greatest hits on our MGM playlist this week:
If I Had a Hammer: With 19 buildings still to knock down, the clock is ticking on MGM’s timeline. The first new building planned is a free public parking garage at the site of the former Zanetti School. But the school is still standing, and it will until MGM receives the final permits to begin construction. Even so, change hovers in the air. Much of the ground around the front of the building has been dug up. More fencing and barriers have been plunked down along State, Bliss, and Main Streets. And the small East Columbus Avenue garage that used to house Robbie’s Auto & Truck Repair has disappeared into thin air.
Tumbling Dice: State gaming regulators have decided that elected leaders in Springfield should, in fact, be allowed to gamble at the casino. Will this affect your favorite politico’s off-the-clock activities? Time will tell. We expect some officials will feel it’s inappropriate to feed the machine their own personal chips, while others won’t be able to resist. Either way, the city clearly has some mixed feelings about its elected officials getting chummy with the corporation — hence the ordinance prohibiting members of city council from taking a job at MGM for at least five years after leaving office.
Workin’ for a Livin’: MGM expects that construction will create at least 2,000 jobs, with 3,000 permanent jobs once the casino opens. It remains to be seen whether MGM can pull a significant number of those workers from a local pool, but the company is holding local job fairs — including a May 28 fair run by the Urban League and, coming up on June 19, a fair hosted by CareerPoint in Holyoke .
I Think I’m Paranoid: On May 29, Connecticut’s House of Representatives voted to consider the construction of a new tribal casino that would, in theory, recapture gambling revenues currently being lost to neighboring states. Some lawmakers aren’t too keen on a third complex in Connecticut, but the bill to create a plan to study this possibility still earned an 88-55 passing vote.
Would another Connecticut casino convince Connecticut’s gamblers to stick closer to home? Send your predictions to hstyles@valleyadvocate.com.•
