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September 19, 2007

Developers eyeing casino sites in western Mass.

PALMER, Mass. -- Developer Leon Dragone envisions a shining hotel and casino complex on a hill just off the Massachusetts Turnpike, a tourist destination that will bring jobs and money to the struggling economy of western Massachusetts.

Kathleen Norbut, a member of the Board of Selectmen in neighboring Monson, sees a behemoth that will put an unbearable burden on roads, public safety, schools and housing and will change forever her quiet New England town.

Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed licensing three resort casinos in Massachusetts - one specifically in the western part of the state. Though his plan needs legislative approval, and it could be years before any casino would be built, developers already are eyeing possible sites as towns debate whether they should embrace gambling.

"We do not have the infrastructure to support something of that magnitude," Norbut said. "The town of Palmer doesn't even have a full-time board of health. The average taxpayer, the working middle class, like myself, I don't want to be supporting the profits that will be going to the casino owners."

Dragone's Northeast Realty and the Mohegan Indian tribe, which runs the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., want to build a $1 billion resort casino on a 150-acre wooded site in Palmer, just 50 yards from the current turnpike toll booths. Preliminary plans envision a gaming floor with up to 4,000 slot machines and table games, a 600-room.

Palmer is not the only town where a casino might go. Several developers are expected to compete with Northeast Realty for the right to build the western Massachusetts casino.

Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette said he knew of three developers interested in putting the gaming facility in his town, at a site near the turnpike and the Westover Metropolitan Airport.

Read the full Associated Press story ...

Your Turn: What impact would three Mass. casinos have on R.I. gambling?

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 9:25 AM | Permalink

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