Mohegan Sun Hoping for Massachusetts Casino Approval
Last week the Mohegan Sun Casino announced plans to develop a $50 million retail shopping and entertainment center at its Connecticut property, and now this week the company unveiled the design plans for a casino project it is proposing in the state of Massachusetts.
If approved, the Mohegan Tribe will construct a new land-based casino in the Massachusetts town of Palmer, a municipality with about 12,000 residents located in the western portion of the state.
Complex to feature water park and railroad theme
According to the plans released this week, the property would feature 250 hotel rooms, 300,000 square feet of retail space, a cinema, a railroad theme, a water park and adjacent “family friendly” hotel, in addition to restaurants and gaming floors.
Set atop a hill, the architect for the resort, A. Eugene Kohn, said that the premises would resemble “an Italian hill town” and that the project was designed to integrate with the surrounding natural terrain.
Plan revised to be more attractive to regulators
The current plan is an update of a previous version, with the new design being more in line with what Massachusetts officials are expecting to achieve by opening new casinos in the state.
The hope in Massachusetts, as in other states that are looking to attract new gambling revenue, is that new, luxurious gambling resorts will draw tourists and their dollars to the state. In revising their plans, Mohegan Sun is hoping that their proposal will be not only attractive to Massachusetts state gaming officials, but also to future patrons.
“Between the retail and the types of restaurants, the aqua adventure water park, and gaming of course, it’s the moment you experience when you come up and have that sense of arrival. I think when you walk in, the interiors, the exteriors, the location on top of the hill, it’s really going to be a lot,” said Mitchell G. Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority.
“I think that Mohegan Sun Massachusetts is really going to be like nothing the Commonwealth has ever seen. We want to take full advantage of what we know is clearly the best location for resort gaming in Massachusetts,” Etess told reporters.
Like Wynn Massachusetts project, public referendum will be required
Much like the public referendum held earlier this month with regard to a proposed Wynn casino to be sited in the town of Everett, which received resounding voter approval two Saturdays ago, the planned Mohegan Sun project cannot progress until the matter has been put to a public vote.
There is only one gaming license that will be issued for the western Massachusetts region. In addition to Mohegan Sun, MGM and Hard Rock International are both competing to win approval. MGM and Hard Rock have proposed casinos for the city of Springfield.
Mohegan Sun officials are hoping to hold the public referendum on the fifteenth of September, said Etess.
Check back with us as we continue to monitor developments in the Massachusetts casino expansion story.
