Unveiling Worcester Slots Plan, Developers Face Scrutiny
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A rendering of the proposed slots parlor was released by Rush Street Gaming Wednesday night.
Jacquelyn Gutc
Rush Street Gaming CEO (left) and Chairman Neil Bluhm (right) sit beside Shrewsbury resident Joe Dyer as they listen to public comment about their Worcester proposal Wednesday night.
Rush Street Gaming CEO Greg Carlin
Jacquelyn Gutc
Rush Street Gaming Chairman Neil Bluhm
The Chicago developers hoping to build a slots parlor near Worcester's Kelley Square provided new updates to the city Wednesday and faced questions from city leaders.
Rush Street Gaming Chairman Neil Bluhm and CEO Greg Carlin attended the City Council's joint committee meeting on economic development and public safety where they laid out plans for their $240-million development and worked to diminish concerns about it.
The room was packed with more than 100 people, many wearing red and pins to show solidarity against slots in the city.
Jobs were a main topic of discussion, as some residents have feared that the 600 promised with the development would be low-paying, part-time positions. Many members of the public who spoke at the hearing asked the council to require union jobs in its host agreement with Rush.
Carlin said Massachusetts Gaming & Entertainment, the Rush subsidiary seeking the state's only slots license for a 14-acre site owned by Wyman-Gordon, signed a memorandum of understanding with Worcester-area trade unions earlier this week and that all of the construction jobs at Rush's other gaming sites were union.
Carlin said criticism that the jobs will be minimum wage is inaccurate and that 90 percent of the positions at Rush's facilities in Pennsylvania and Illinois are full-time and pay, on average, $50,000 per year. He said many people started out in entry level positions like busing tables and eventually work up to management.
But committee members remained skeptical of Rush's claims. Committee Co-Chair and Councilor-At-Large Frederick Rushton asked that the firm supply detailed report breaking down employee pay. Carlin had said local job fairs would be held and District 2 Councilor Philip Palmieri suggested a jobs fair be held before a host city agreement is reached to gauge interest. And when District 3 Councilor George Russell asked whether Rush was prepared to say that at least half of its employees would be Worcester residents, Carlin said no and that research into that hadn't been done.
As residents spoke out in two recent meetings, much of their concerns have been about a slots parlor taking away from local business. Carlin said Rush wants to "increase the pie for everybody in town" and that buying local is important. He said Rush's Des Plaines, Ill., casino uses a third-party operator for its restaurant and that's an option for the Worcester site as well.
Carlin said the company is looking at developing a rewards plan for patrons that would get them tickets to shows at the Hanover Theatre or DCU Center or allow them to redeem points at local bars and restaurants.
He said the idea that the facility would be a "windlowless box" is "an old notion of casino design from, like, the '70s. Over the last 10 or 15 years, there's been a lot of development in casino design."
Unveiling a concept design of the 120,000-square-foot facility, Bluhm called it beautiful and said it "will fit well with the surrounding area and enhance the neighborhood." The developers compared its impact to that of Target store.
Carlin said the design features outdoor dining along Madison Street and natural light and they will seek the high environmental sustainability certification of LEED Gold.
Robert Michaud of MDM Transportation Consultants of Marlborough said plans are being developed to improve the intersection at Kelley Square and that they'd include modification to street systems, signalization and that they intend to make travel there safer. He also said the project could allow for completion of infrastructure projects for the area that have gone unfunded.
"These initiatives are all in sync with what local biz leaders and community leaders have been discussing for years," Michaud said.
When Rushton asked for details of the plan, Michaud said more would be available in a few weeks.
Rushton also asked for several reports from Rush including one regarding fines the firm has received at other sites and what local business benefits have been at other locations.
After reports that Rush repeatedly fought tax assessments at other locations, Russell asked whether the firm would be willing to agree not to challenge them in Worcester for five or six years.
"We're happy to sit down and see if we can work out some sort of arrangement," Bluhm responded.
When asked by Russell whether Rush would consider capping the funding amount that goes into the voter referendum, Carlin said they would be willing to discuss it.
Russell also said he didn't understand where a high-end hotel, slated to go at an unnamed location downtown, fit into the plan for a slots parlor because developers said they expect most patrons to come from within 45 minutes of Worcester.
"It was not our suggestion to do that; it was really the city's suggestion in our discussions," Bluhm said. "We understand that you wanted a full-service hotel, which you don't have downtown, in order to make this project something that you like."
The developers said the slots parlor would provide a $1-million annual subsidy to the proposed hotel which they said would be unsustainable alone.
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