Gaming Developer To Meet With Worcester Councilors
City Councilors will be meeting behind closed doors tomorrow with developers interested in building a $200 million slots parlor and hotel near Worcester's Kelley Square.
Councilor Philip Palmieri, whose district includes the 14-acre area owned by Wyman-Gordon, said he's expecting to meet with Neil Bluhm, chairman of Chicago-based Mass Gaming & Entertainment LLC, and Richard L. Friedman of Cambridge-based Carpenter & Co., in the mayor's office early tomorrow afternoon.
"I'm going to have an open and frank discussion with Bluhm and Friedman," Palmieri said. "It will be exciting to be able to talk with these developers who are suggesting that they may invest nearly $200 million and approximately 600 jobs that could expand the entertainment (offerings) in the City of Worcester."
But, he cautioned that these meetings are just the beginning and "we're a long way from the finish line" and determining whether the council, city manager and residents will approve the proposal.
Palmieri said he was told he'd have about 45 minutes to meet with Bluhm and Friedman. Mayor Joseph Petty will be present as councilors meet with the developers as well. Petty's chief of staff did not return a request for comment this afternoon.
By meeting individually with Bluhm and Friedman, the council avoids violating the Open Meetings Act because a majority of the council won't be present at the same time.
Palmieri said he looks forward to discussions at neighborhood and business meetings with constituents in the coming weeks regarding their feelings about the proposal.
"We're trying to help the community understand what's going on and (understand) what their questions are about this," he said.
Worcester has one of four proposals for the single slots license that the state will allow under an expanded 2011 gaming law. In addition to MGE, Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville, Raynham Park in Raynham and PPC Casino Resorts, which has yet to announce a location, are seeking the slots license.
In a statement announcing MGE's location choice, Bluhm had said his company spent more than a year seeking the right location and believes the Worcester site, which includes part of the Canal District and extends into the Green Island neighborhood is "by far the best location" for the facility.
The Madison Street property, which hasn't been used by metal manufacturer Wyman-Gordon for about a decade, is the subject of a long-term agreement between Friedman and the company, giving him the option to build there. Friedman, whose firm builds hotels, said earlier this year that he would seek a partnership with a casino developer. Bluhm and CEO Greg Carlin formed Rush Street Gaming, the parent company of MGE, in 2009. Their casino developments include those in Niagara Falls and Philadelphia, according to the company's website.
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