The state Gaming Commission voted today to pick the Wynn proposal for Everett over the Mohegan Sun proposal for Suffolk Downs, with three of the four commissioners saying Wynn's proposal would be better for the area, workers and the environment.
Commission members said Wynn proved it had greater capital to ensure its project could get built and then run through challenging economic times - and would spend more money locally than Mohegan Sun. Also, if Wynn doesn't build, the contaminated, empty site on which it would be built would stay a contaminated, empty site.
Only acting Commission Chairman James McHugh - Chairman Stephen Crosby recused himself weeks ago due to his past business dealings with one of the owners of the Everett site - expressed hesitation about Wynn, partly because he's not convinced the project will pass state environmental muster and partly because Boston, which has opposed Wynn's proposal, would also be responsible for some project approvals due to its location right on the city line. Also, he noted that surrounding communities, including Boston, have reached mitigation agreements with Mohegan Sun but not Wynn.
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Comments
Suffolk Downs land parcel
By Gino and Guido
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 4:23pm
Suffolk Downs land parcel should be developed now, upscale condos with high end Retail/ Restaurants , Eastie also needs a movie theatre .Please do not put a New England Revolution soccer field, Soccer around here does not stimulate the economy. Suffolk Downs land will also be great for Bio industry, or Automobile manufacturing, Toyota or General Motors.or Volkswagon .
Auto manufacturing won't
By anon
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 5:02pm
Auto manufacturing won't happen here again due to environmental concerns and UAW skulduggery. Unless magically Mass becomes a right to work state. I which I will be riding my unicorn to collect a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow following the announcement of world peace and a universal cure for cancer just before the buffet celebrating the end of world hunger.
Right because only if we
By Chris Rich
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 2:08pm
..hose the many to let the few loot even more will we ever have any hope of attaining that feudal revival so near and dear to every would be oligarch, plutocrat and overlord now awash in idiot power pipe dreams.
Let me know how Ivanhoe's doing when you next wash his horse faithful Wamba.
A Soccer Stadium
By Sources Say
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 5:13pm
Might be ideal in this location. The place is already a sports venue. The stadium could be more than just a soccer field but also a year round entertainment complex if done right. You're never going to see car manufacturing in this location.
Forget about soccer, It's
By Gino and Guido
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 5:48pm
Forget about soccer, It's seasonal, it will never happen..
Forget about Suffolk Downs being a sporting venue all together.
1) Either owner sells entire parcel to City of Boston, can be useful for a "low income village" ( an extension to Orient Heights projects)
2) The State can purchase land and build a mega drug rehab facility for East Boston and Revere..
3) Wynn can purchase Suffolk Downs parcel, it will be very useful for Wynn, he will need someplace to dump all that contaminated soil from the Everett location.
Soccer Might Be Seasonal
By Sources Say
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 6:43pm
But that doesn't mean whatever is built there has to be seasonal. An enclosed stadium could also house concerts or other events in the off season. There's enough room there to build multiple entertainment venues including the movie theatre you think Eastie needs. Boston is already overrun with "high end/luxury" condos and apartments. It doesn't need anymore.
Seasonality
By Ron Newman
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 10:34am
Horce racing is seasonal too. [url=http://www.suffolkdowns.com/calendar.html]This year's Suffolk Downs racing calendar[/url] runs from May through September, with 68 days of racing.
The [url=http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/sites/newengland/f... England Revolution schedule[/url] at Gillette Stadium goes from March through October, with 17 home games (and then possible playoffs which could continue into November).
Not so fast
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 5:38pm
Not when it takes place many miles and over an hour from its fan base in a difficult to reach venue, no.
Put it at the end of the Blue Line and things will likely be different - like they are in the centrally-located stadiums in Portland and Seattle.
Fan base
By merlinmurph
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 8:12am
I'm not sure how much of a fan base there is in the city. The soccer fan base is spread all over with pockets in SE Mass, the Springfield area, Lowell, etc. True, Foxboro is equally inconvenient for almost everybody, and even with the trains, is tough to get to without a car.
I often question people who say they are devoted soccer fans, yet make excuses for not attending games in Foxboro. If you're a true soccer fan, spending an hour to get to a game is nothing. A large proportion of people attending Sox games spend at least an hour getting to the game - doesn't seem to be an issue.
Putting a stadium at the end of the blue line helps city residents get to a game, but makes it a logistical nightmare for a lot of others outside the city, especially those west of the city. Can a team survive just on city fans? Nope. You certainly are not going to fill a stadium regularly.
Back to Suffolk Downs....
Just for location reasons and forgetting about the players behind each site, I was hoping Suffolk Downs was going to be chosen. It just seemed like a good site. The horse racing would continue and have a nicer, improved venue. You could get there from the city on the blue line. It would be a great way to re-purpose the site and revitalize it.
I'm glad someone else is pouring a bunch of money into a casino and not me, though.
But...
By SoBoYuppie
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 9:32am
Some ppl have lives but not most Sox fans.
I'm not a huge soccer fan but
By dave davery
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 2:18pm
I'm not a huge soccer fan but I'd probably go to the games occasionally if the tickets were cheap and the stadium was T accessible.
Boston Olympic Village
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 6:42pm
Natch
Better go see the ponies now
By adamg
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 5:01pm
Suffolk Downs will likely be redeveloped.
Just saw Richard Fields of Suffolk Downs
By Brian Riccio
Tue, 09/16/2014 - 6:42pm
walking into the Four Seasons . Scowling would be a mild word for the look on his face!
Mr Fields ..East Boston
By Gino and Guido
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 12:59am
Mr Fields ..East Boston residents need a place to shop, dine, and go to the movies, all at one location! Why should East Boston residents waste gas and time driving to Revere to go see a movie.. Why should East Boston residents waste gas and time driving up route one Saugus to eat at their favorite Chinese or Mexican eatery, or bar, enough is enough, This is Easties only chance one chance to have a Movie theatre, restaurants, retail outlets, ice cream parlor, DeMoulas supermarket!! Whatever,, and maybe a hotel and a World class gym all in one location @Suffolk Downs..Forget about sporting facilities, Concert venues, there is enough to go around in Eastern mass..
Mexican food?
By Ron Newman
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 10:13am
If you live in East Boston, why would you go to Saugus to find Mexican food? There's plenty of it in your own neighborhood.
Do you feel comfortable going
By EB resident
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 1:14pm
Do you feel comfortable going to an East Boston Mexican place to eat your favorite burito on a friday night, after all the recent nearby maverick shootings and recent string of robberies in the neighborhood..I don't think so.
By that reasoning
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 1:34pm
With all the car accidents on Rt. 1, do you feel comfortable driving through a dangerous traffic sewer to reach some chain restaurant when you can walk down the street and get the real enchalada?
More people in MA are killed in traffic accidents than bad neighborhood squabbles.
I actually go to East Boston for food now and again - particularly before doing a megashopping at the Market Basket in Chelsea. The lack of generica is most attractive.
Ron bikes to these kinds of places, BTW, and has for years without incident. Maybe he doesn't watch shock TV as much as you do.
Obama needs to deploy 1000
By EB resident
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 2:19pm
Obama needs to deploy 1000 US Troops on the ground "Boots on the ground" to stop the out of control recent crime wave in East Boston. He is naming this mission "Operation Marty Cohen"
Yes.
By Ron Newman
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 2:03pm
I also feel perfectly comfortable going to the Shipyard and Marina (which is having an awesome festival this Saturday), and to Atlantic Works Gallery on Border Street.
Eastie has some of the best
By anon
Wed, 09/17/2014 - 10:30am
Eastie has some of the best food in Boston, Angelas and Jalisco for mexican, Rincon Limon for Peruvian, Thmor Da for Cambodian, several great italian places.
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