MGM Springfield is expected to fund local festivals and cultural events.
Springfield, a city of 154,000 in Western Massachusetts, has struggled in recent years. The 2008-09 recession hit the city like it did the rest of America, but that was not the obstacle the city’s economic rebuilding effort needed to overcome.
It was a 2011 tornado which did significant damage to the downtown area which hit hardest. Local civic and business leaders are trying to renovate and rebuild and MGM Resorts is a big part of the revitalization plan.
Local residents consider the MGM Springfield Casino to be a key part of the city’s economic rebirth. The $950 million MGM Resorts development is not the traditional casino people might imagine it to be. Instead, it is expected to be an “integrated resort”, a term used by casino developers these days to describe a more expansive complex.
Entertainment and Retail Development
American cities have seen similar concepts put forward by designers of sports arenas. An integrated resort-casino is meant to be a centerpiece of something greater, an organic part of the city. Around the resort, businesses and attractions grow.
When it opens in 2018, MGM Resorts hopes their complex will attract satellite businesses. These are not tied directly to casino gaming in any way, but instead are destinations for gamblers and non-gamblers alike: restaurants, clubs, retail stores, concert venues, exhibition halls, and other attractions.
All the Amenities
Developers in the gambling industry use the term “amenities“. Often, they use the term to describe the accomodations in their hotels. At other times, it’s used to describe on-location draws, such as the convention centers, concert halls, museums, 3D theaters, and indoor waterparks. Sometimes, the term is used to describe the wider area — something in the neighborhood of the casino — such as museums, concert ampitheaters, outdoor waterparks, and festival grounds.
Part of the plan is to integrate with existing locations in Springfield. MGM Resorts has agreed to underwrite multiple events for up to 8 years at local venues like MassMutual Center and Symphony Hall. The funding should help revitalize the Springfield culture in the years to come.
Kevin E. Kennedy, Springfield’s chief development officer, said of MGM Resorts’s impact: “Springfield is going to become an entertainment capital.”
Hartford Leaders Prepare Response
That spells trouble for many on the other side of the border in Connecticut. Springfield is 27 miles down the highway from Hartford and MGM Resorts is likely to have a major economic and cultural impact up-and-down the Hartford-Springfield Corridor.
In Hartford, the Capital Region Development Authority is pushing for a $250 million renovation of the XL Center, to make the venue more competitive. Michael W. Freimuth, CRDA’s executive director, said such renovation plans are urgent.
Freimuth told The Courant, “There is an urgency for Hartford. The events could not only impact the XL and the convention center but the hotels and restaurants that live off them. Events in Springfield will challenge Xfinity, Infinity, The Bushnell, and as far south as the Oakdale.”
No Financial Help from the State
Michael Freimuth’s message did not get through to the political leadership in Connecticut, though. Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy did not include the renovation in his 2016 budget. It is expected to come up for debate in 2017, but that pushes completion into the time when MGM Resorts will be opening, changing the landscape for events in the region.
The head of the CRDA does not think the political leadership is awake to the dangers posed to Hartford’s economy. Freimuth added, “We all have to recognize what is happening here. It is all very real.”
Connecticut Leaders Build a New Casino
Connecticut’s politicians have another plan. They want to build a firewall against the state’s casino gamblers driving across the border to gamble. They’ve approved the building of a satellite casino (“slots in a box”) along the Massachusetts-Connecticut border. It will be co-owned by longtime tribal gaming rivals, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casino.
Thus, the MGM Springfield’s economic impact is being felt already. The people of Springfield hope the buzz is right, and the casino’s economic impact will be profound. If the optimists on the Massachusetts side of the state border and the pessimists on the Connecticut side are right, then the MGM Springfield Casino is going to transform the local landscape.
