Hard Rock to Open Massachusetts Campaign HQ
As the race to win the coveted Massachusetts casino licenses heats up in the Bay State, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino New England has announced that it plans to open up a campaign headquarters as it works toward its goal of developing an $800 million casino resort in the town of West Springfield.
Referendum date established this week
This week marked a turning point for the proposed project, when the West Springfield Town Council established September 10 as the date a public referendum in which citizens will have a chance to show up to the polls and have their opinions on whether Hard Rock ought to be able to build in their town be heard.
There was no opposition to the idea; the council voted in favor of the referendum by a vote of 8 to 0.
Mark Rivers, the developer working with Hard Rock on the West Springfield project, was clearly pleased with Tuesday night’s vote.
“We are really appreciative of the leadership they showed and the mayor, too. Meeting adjourned at 7:05. The campaign starts at 7:06,” Rivers said.
Headquarters to open to help drum up support for the casino
To spur on the campaign, Hard Rock’s new headquarters will be located at 1425 Westfield Street in West Springfield, a city of less than 30,000 residents that has the nickname “the crossroads of New England.” The grand opening of the headquarters is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 30 at 5 o’clock in the evening.
Also announced this week was the establishment of a community group that will rally its support behind the project, known as “West Side Yes.”
Host agreement must receive public approval before licensing can move forward
There is only one casino license up for grabs for western Massachusetts. Also vying for the coveted license are MGM Resorts and Mohegan Sun, which operates a casino property in neighboring Connecticut. Last month the company announced plans to for a new, $50 million retail development at its property there.
Before the licensing process can move on to the stage in which the Massachusetts Gaming Commission selects who will ultimately be granted the right to operate a casino in the state, communities must approve by vote the host agreements reached between the gaming companies and the municipalities in which they intend to build their resorts.
Host agreements lay out such things as taxation and job creation, while also addressing local concerns like increased traffic generated by casino visitors as well as potential crime and problem gambling.
Other host agreements in the state have already won voter approval
Last week, voters in Springfield, the second-largest metropolitan area in Massachusetts, approved a host agreement between the city and MGM Resorts that guarantees Springfield $25 million annually in casino-generated revenue.
Back in June, a casino project proposed by the Wynn Company for the city of Everett, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, won overwhelming approval when voters turned out in droves to green-light the idea. If given the go ahead by state gaming regulators, Wynn has promised to build a $1.2 billion casino resort complex on a polluted parcel of land on the Mystic River once occupied by a Monsanto Chemical plant.
Check back with us as we continue to follow the developments in Massachusetts as casino expansion moves forward there.
