MA Casino Developments

Some casino news today:
- Plainville slots parlor opens today (becoming MA's first official gambling hall)

- New Bedford residents approved their casino in an overwhelming 73%/27% vote yesterday (I was down at home this weekend and there was a pro-casino commercial on the radio during literally every commercial break on Fun 107). New Bedford is now in competition with Brockton for the Southcoast license. Somerset is also rumored to be interested in bidding.

WHDH said:
Massachusetts enters the casino game with first slots parlor

Posted: Jun 24, 2015 3:43 AM EDT
Updated: Jun 24, 2015 9:12 AM EDT
Reported by Byron Barnett

PLAINVILLE, Mass. (AP) -- Massachusetts is officially launching its casino era with the opening of its first official gambling hall.

Plainridge Park Casino is holding a ribbon cutting Wednesday morning. The first customers will be allowed in at 1 p.m.

The slots parlor, located in Plainville near the Rhode Island border, features 1,250 gambling machines, including electronic versions of blackjack and roulette but no live casino table games.

The $250 million facility also features a harness racing track and a sports bar by former New England Patriots quarterback Doug Flutie.

It's the smallest of three gambling facilities slated to open in the Bay State in the coming years.

MGM is building an $800 million resort in Springfield and Wynn is building a $1.7 billion one in the Boston area.

Tuesday, New Bedford voters overwhelmingly approved a $650 million resort casino plan for the city's waterfront.

The referendum passed with 73 percent voting in favor of it and 27 percent against, according to results posted on the city's website.

The vote was 8,355 to 3,040. About 21 percent of the city's nearly 54,000 registered voters cast ballots.

KG Urban Enterprises' plan calls for a Foxwoods-managed resort on a former power plant site.

Voter approval was critical for the plan to advance in the competition for the state's third and final resort casino license.

A plan for the Brockton Fairgrounds already has been approved by voters.

http://www.whdh.com/story/29393626/massachusetts-enters-the-casino-game-with-first-slots-parlor
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datadyne007 said:
(I was down at home this weekend and there was a pro-casino commercial on the radio during literally every commercial break on Fun 107). New Bedford is now in competition with Brockton for the Southcoast license. Somerset is also rumored to be interested in bidding.
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Admitting you listen to Fun 107 is a daring move. I'll never admit I listen to them in my car sometimes. Or "like" their page on Facebook and read all of their clickbait posts. Never.

I'm pretty sure Somerset is out of the running although I vaguely remember a quote somewhere from a town offical about "not ruling anything out." http://wpri.com/2015/05/15/somerset-drops-casino-bid-new-bedford-pushing-forward/

Bergeron37 said:
The overwhelming vote gives New Bedford a huge leg up on Brockton
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Do you think so? I admittedly know very little about this process; but does the margin of the vote really give an advantage to New Bedford? I figured the gaming commission would probably go with the safer/ more viable proposal regardless of the vote.

On a related note, I think the casino is attractive to New Bedford not only for potential jobs, but for cleaning up a waterfront brownfield site and renovating an old powerplant on the waterfront (and creating a harborwalk). My feeling has always been that even if the casino flops and goes belly-up, the renovated waterfront area is worth it. That's a space that most people couldn't afford to clean up and renovate and if the casino folds (ha!), it's still a far more usable space than it was to begin with. Even abandonment of the casino is still better than the status quo.

There was an aquarium proposal for the space (now the Ocean Explorium in New Bedford- a much, much smaller operation) that died in large part due to the cost of getting everything renovated there. It's a pipe dream and contingent on a lot of variables, but if the casino left and the NEAQ continued to be mediocre, I could see a renewed bid for an Aquarium (and may a conversion on the hotel to condos/apartments) which would be a lot easier without brownfield cleanup and renovating a crumbling structure.
 
Lrfox said:
Admitting you listen to Fun 107 is a daring move. I'll never admit I listen to them in my car sometimes. Or "like" their page on Facebook and read all of their clickbait posts. Never.
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Bumpin' Fun 107 is the only way to drive down the Boulevard.

But seriously that commercial was pretty great.
> Hey did you hear that we're voting to approve a casino on the site of the contaminated N-Star plant on Tuesday?
- But what about the local businesses in New Bedford? Won't it hurt them?'
> They've pledged $x mil to help support them.
- Wow this sounds like a great opportunity to bring jobs to New Bedford. I'm voting yes on June 23.

Didn't hear or see any "no" commercials on the radio or TV while I was there.
 
Big news, Wynn will subsidize OL service and study a pedestrian bridge to Assembly:

Wynn Resorts offers to bolster MBTA’s Orange Line
Casino pact calls for subsidies that may reach $7.5m

By Jon Chesto | GLOBE STAFF | JULY 31, 2015

...

As part of Wynn Resorts’ efforts to win the blessing of state officials for its $1.7 billion Everett gambling palace, the Nevada company agreed to add extra Orange Line trains during certain hours of the day — a plan that will cost the company nearly $7.5 million over the next 15 years.

...

Wynn anticipates that many of the casino’s 4,000 workers and a portion of its customers would take the Orange Line — even though the casino site in Everett overlooking the Mystic River isn’t within easy walking distance of any station on the line.

Wynn would pay for shuttle buses to pick people up at the Malden Center and Wellington stations and rely on existing MBTA buses to connect with the Sullivan Square station.

There’s also the possibility of a pedestrian bridge over the Mystic linked to the new Assembly Square T stop: Wynn has agreed to spend up to $250,000 to help study the bridge’s feasibility.

...

Wynn is also proposing to help pay for changes to improve the flow of MBTA buses at the Sullivan Square T stop, but it’s the plan to help pay for operating costs that makes Wynn’s plan so unusual.

...

The extra trains would be designed to increase Orange Line frequency during the hours of 9 and 10 a.m. and 7 and 11 p.m. on weekdays. Wynn’s filing suggests the average time between train arrivals would drop from 8 minutes to 5 minutes for the morning shift and from 10 minutes to 7½ minutes for the 7 to 8 p.m. shift.

Transportation spokesman Michael Verseckes said the agency is pleased with Wynn’s Orange Line subsidy proposal: It will help address capacity issues at key times of the day while accommodating the additional ridership expected as a result of the casino’s opening.

...

Full article:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...I3fNIPbSBzBsogXDYpsI/story.html?event=event25
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datadyne007 said:
Big news, Wynn will subsidize OL service and study a pedestrian bridge to Assembly:
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"The footbridge could be built over the Amelia Earhart dam, alongside a railroad bridge that crosses the Mystic, or as a standalone structure.
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I think the footbridge on the Amelia Earhart dam option (or a separate structure right along there) has the most benefits. It would necessarily tie together the Gateway Center, Assembly Row, and the Everett casino for pedestrians and bikes all knit together with river walks and parks on both sides of the river with the assembly station in the middle. Also, plugged into the Northern Strand Community Trail, by the way.
 
^ Agreed.

A "gondola" style aerial tramway here from the Assembly stop across the Mystic to the casino would be fun. Probably not practical, I know....
 
As someone who rides the OL southbound frequently/nightly between 7pm-11pm, the reduced waiting times would be much appreciated.
 
JumboBuc said:
^ Agreed.

A "gondola" style aerial tramway here from the Assembly stop across the Mystic to the casino would be fun. Probably not practical, I know....
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This is a casino, they are all about presentation. A gondola would be part of the attraction.
 
JumboBuc said:
^ Agreed.

A "gondola" style aerial tramway here from the Assembly stop across the Mystic to the casino would be fun. Probably not practical, I know....
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I love the idea but it doesn't really work when a OL train drops 100 people and the gondola can carry 10. Unless they go with one of those huge ones.
 
A tram could also be integrated into Assembly station, wheras a footbridge would be really out of the way. Construction costs might even be the same, although obviously maintaince and ops costs long term would be higher.

I agree about Wynn likely bring more supportive of a tram. Not only is it an attraction, but it could allow for an entirely weather protected route to the casino.

I bet federal, Wynn, and maybe the owners of the gateway center could be cooeraed into paying for the whole thing out of pocket.
 
davem said:
A tram could also be integrated into Assembly station, wheras a footbridge would be really out of the way. Construction costs might even be the same, although obviously maintaince and ops costs long term would be higher.

I agree about Wynn likely bring more supportive of a tram. Not only is it an attraction, but it could allow for an entirely weather protected route to the casino.

I bet federal, Wynn, and maybe the owners of the gateway center could be cooeraed into paying for the whole thing out of pocket.
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Pretty sure Wynn has already talked about Bus service. Also, not from Assembly that would be way out of the way. Sullivan Square, Wellington and Commuter rail station in Chelsea should be the pickup points.

Let's stick with a walking and bike trail from Assembly and not get crazy.
 
His target extra service hours kinda confirm that Casino traffic peaks do not coincide with peak rush hours. Nice.
 
Arlington said:
His target extra service hours kinda confirm that Casino traffic peaks do not coincide with peak rush hours. Nice.
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That's true of Foxwoods, too. Makes the whole issue of CT State Police overtime directing traffic out in the middle of nowhere a contentious one that the Pequots consented over time to partially underwriting, since the traffic peaks are counterintuitive with the traditional peaks where on-shift Trooper staffing levels are highest.


We're not talking a big adjustment here. When the new Orange cars come there's going to be a lot more peak service to begin with simply because the OL will be running up to capacity for the first time in 28 years. The 120 cars in the current fleet are the same ones--without any increases--that ran on the Washington St. El. as 4-car only trains. All this time since the SW Corridor opened and peak trains were bumped to 6 cars it's been operating a good % below the track infrastructure's natural capacities because of +2 cars claimed by each train limiting total number and frequency of trainsets they can run at any one time. So that big bump to 'true' peak capacity is coming when this new car order increases the fleet size by 32 additional cars. It'll almost be 'wow'-level how much more frequent it gets at rush.

All Wynn's doing is taking the rush hour 'wow' increase baked into the car order and extending the full-blast operating hours a little. Most of that $7.5M probably goes to offsetting operator salaries on a slightly better-staffed off-shift. That's just about the only expense involved. Orange has already gone to one-man train ops so a little bit of money goes a long way when it only takes extra on-shift operators you can count on one hand to run those extra headways.
 
tangent said:
I think the footbridge on the Amelia Earhart dam option (or a separate structure right along there) has the most benefits. It would necessarily tie together the Gateway Center, Assembly Row, and the Everett casino for pedestrians and bikes all knit together with river walks and parks on both sides of the river with the assembly station in the middle. Also, plugged into the Northern Strand Community Trail, by the way.
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This is awesome. I suggested this about a year ago on the Assembly Row thread. It just makes sense. However Somerville's mayor is morally opposed to casinos and I wouldn't be surprised if he used all of his power to block this.
 
AmericanKryptonite said:
This is awesome. I suggested this about a year ago on the Assembly Row thread. It just makes sense.
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Makes a lot of sense. Hopefully the feasibility study comes up with something that can leverage the damn to reduce the span in order be very cost effective. The locks themselves are 45 feet wide, 22 feet wide and 22 feet wide, so possibly you could just add three relatively small draw bridges across the locks.
 
tangent said:
Makes a lot of sense. Hopefully the feasibility study comes up with something that can leverage the damn to reduce the span in order be very cost effective. The locks themselves are 45 feet wide, 22 feet wide and 22 feet wide, so possibly you could just add three relatively small draw bridges across the locks.
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Pedestrian draws, especially that many in a short span, are probably going to be no-go on expense and maintenance complexity. That starts becoming a little bit Rube Goldberg-esque. It would honestly be cheaper to go super-tall over the dam at maximum mast height (as set by the Eastern Route commuter rail bridge) than to add moving parts. Super-tall has its own compromises because that's really, really fricking tall and will take complicated sets of switchback ramps to get up there. So don't start celebrating just yet. An unfavorable assessment could easily nix the straightest crow-flies route across the dam.

Sidewalk on the Eastern Route bridge is a lot more intriguing since the bridge has already got concrete emergency evacuation shoulders on it and tracks spread 2 feet wider from each other than on land. It's possible that modification of the side walls can cobble together enough space for a side path on 1 side + security fencing, and that the tracks can be compacted together a couple feet. Obviously if there's the slightest concern about safety margins that high up over the water it's an instant-reject from the T and FRA. For one, the superelevation on the Somerville side may be the reason why the track geometry has them spread 2 feet further apart. But it's worth a full-on investigation to answer that feasibility question because this is potentially the cheapest option of all if those shoulders are safely modifiable.



The important thing in all this is that they're going to try for it and at least answer that feasibility question definitively...and do so with proactive public-private partnership. That's a big deal by its lonesome that can only lead to more good things.
 
Having done a graduate-level project with the City of Everett last year, which included exploring the possibility of a crossing of the dam, I can say that DCR is likely to be a huge pain on this one. It was very difficult to get any assistance/straight answers from them, even coming in as someone who was effectively working for Everett. The casino and Assembly developments would presumably at least force them to give a definitive "no," or else reopen the community process they had started around 2007 to discuss possibilities.
 
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