As a deadline for submissions looms Friday, the Connecticut Airport Authority is reviving its proposal for a third state casino while Enfield Square Mall says it may enter the gambling sweepstakes.
The Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes are accepting proposals until 4 p.m. Friday.
Sources in Enfield Thursday afternoon said Madison Marquette, which owns the Enfield Square Mall on Elm Street, will decide Friday morning about whether to submit a proposal for a casino to the tribes. The town has not endorsed Madison Marquette's proposal. In early October, Enfield Square Mall management met resistance from nearly 200 Enfield residents saying they didn't want to see a casino built in their town. Enfield Mayor Scott Kaupinhas said the town would not support submitting a proposal to the tribes.
"We haven't made a final decision, we won't make a decision until tomorrow morning," Enfield Square Mall Manager Marty Pelosi said Thursday afternoon. Enfield officials say the mall has told them thay plan to submit a bid. Mayor Scott Kaupin said Thursday afternoon that the mall has told the town they were planning to submit a proposal.
Meanwhile, the airport authority says that despite local opposition, it will make a casino pitch.
Kevin Dillon, the authority's executive director, confirmed Thursday that it will submit the proposal to the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans by Friday's deadline. Dillon said the authority revived the proposal earlier this week after the tribes posted on their joint web site for the casino that submissions did not have to be complete.
Two weeks ago, the Windsor Locks board of selectmen rejected the project.
Part of the reason behind the rejection in Windsor Locks was that two of the three selectmen were not running for re-election in Tuesday's municipal elections. The fallout of such a major decision might then be left to officials who aren't now in office. But there also were concerns about the cost of expanding the town's police force and other disruptions.
Approval from the Windsor Locks selectmen would still be required as well as public hearings. Dillon said the authority planned to go before the board at its first meeting later this month.
Dillon said the casino could be located either in a new terminal that will be built or on top of a new transportation center. An interim casino could be opened in the Sheraton Hotel.
"It could be opened immediately," Dillon said
Casino Competition Increases As Deadline Looms Friday
the Friday's 4 p.m.deadline for submitting proposals fast approaching, the competition to land a third casino in Connecticut has suddenly grown more intense.
Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks is jumping back into the fray and the owners of the Enfield Square mall may still push ahead — even though the towns where they are located did not sign off on the proposals.
East Hartford is pushing a bigger, flashier venue along I-84. And East Windsor is targeting property along I-91.
With authorization from the state, the tribes that operate the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos are seeking to jointly open and operate a gaming venue in the capital region to dilute competition from a mega-casino now under construction by MGM in nearby Springfield. For the last month, the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans have sought casino proposals from communities.
Recently, the tribes changed the proposal submission process, reviving both the Bradley and the mall plans, which had appeared dead due to local opposition.
Initially, the tribes had required that both the town and the landowner sign off on proposals. But earlier this week, the tribes posted on their joint website for the third casino that they would accept "incomplete" applications, rather than push back the deadline, to cast as wide a net as possible for potential locations.
That meant both signatures would not be needed at the deadline but would have to eventually be secured. Public hearings, referendums and other local approvals might also be required later by the towns.
The tribes noted that the proposal process had become complicated by Tuesday's local municipal elections, coming just three days before the proposal deadline.
The airport dropped its bid for the casino two weeks ago, after the Windsor Locks Board of Selectmen rejected the proposal. Part of the reason behind the rejection in Windsor Locks was that two of the three selectmen were not running for re-election and said they did not want to make such a major decision as they left office.
Proposed Casino Development In East Hartford
A southwest aerial rendering of a $138 million casino being proposed at the vacant Showcase Cinemas in East Hartford along I-84. The development team is pitching the proposed structure to the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes. (Courtesy of Vincent Group)
"We thought it was dead," Kevin Dillon, the executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority, said. "Now, it's a whole new board. We're going to ask them to take it up at their first meeting Nov. 24."
There are two potential sites at the airport: on the site of the old Murphy Terminal, now being demolished, or atop a new transportation center planned nearby for car rentals and additional visitor parking.
Dillon said an "interim casino" could also be established quickly at the Sheraton hotel at the airport.
"It could open almost immediately," Dillon said.
Chris Kervick, who was elected first selectman of Windsor Locks Tuesday, said he is in favor of at least entering discussions with the tribes — but the full board must first vote. He's also concerned that the state legislature could alter the law that authorized the third casino to allow the tribes to negotiate directly with the airport, which is on state property. The state's approval of the tribes' selection would be needed in the next legislative session.
"We wouldn't be able to protect our interests," Kervick said.
In Enfield, the mall owners envisioned a massive makeover for the aging mall, including a 152,000-square-foot casino with a hotel, dining, entertainment and a 1,200-space parking garage. But securing backing from the town could be an uphill fight, after residents panned the idea early last month because of concerns about traffic and crime.
Enfield Mayor Scott Kaupin, who said last week the town did not intend to submit a proposal, expressed frustration Thursday with the changes made by the tribes in the application process.
"I don't think you're going to have a willing partner in the town of Enfield or wanting anything to do with a company or a developer that isn't following the rules of the game as they were set out at the beginning of the process," Kaupin said.
The tribes are under pressure to select a site quickly. They must be ready for the next legislative session; but they also want to open a year or more before MGM Springfield, whose scheduled opening is the fall of 2018.
The tribes have said they want the easiest possible site to develop in the shortest amount of time with the fewest costs, and with benefits such as visibility and proximity to large populations.
In East Hartford, where the town council has already endorsed a casino plan, Anthony W. Ravosa Jr. has assembled a development team to draw up plans to convert the long-vacant Showcase Cinemas into a casino and entertainment complex. Ravosa said he will submit a new set of plans Friday that features the full Vegas treatment, building on ones he presented earlier this year.
The new design expands the building, brings it 80 feet closer to I-84 and adds an LED billboard facing the highway that is 30 feet high and 80 feet long. The billboard would advertise coming events at the East Hartford casino as well as the flagship venues of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Uncasville.
"Nobody has the frontage and the closeness to the interstate that this property has," Ravosa, of Glastonbury, said. "Can you imagine if you are driving in from Boston, the impulse patron capture?"
The 130,000 cars that pass East Hartford daily is a number that far surpasses East Windsor and the airport, Ravosa said, citing traffic studies.
"East Hartford is the nexus of every interstate and state highway coming into the Hartford area," Ravosa said. "[I-]91, 84, Route 2, Route 15, Route 5, 291, 384. It's all there."
The new plans also add a six-level parking garage that can accommodate 2,100 cars, plus another 900 cars elsewhere on the property. There also are surrounding properties, including the rundown Silver Lane Plaza, which could provide options for expansion, Ravosa said.
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