By Mary Whitfill, News Staff
Suffolk Downs officials are turning their gaze towards Revere after voters in East Boston rejected a ballot measure to approve a $1 billion casino at the site of the once-popular racetrack.
The Expanded Gaming Act, signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick in late 2011, allows for the building of up to three resort casinos in Massachusetts-one in each of three defined districts. The casino in question will serve ‘District A,’ encompassing Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk and Worcester counties.
“This is an opportunity to create a fiscal and economic boost for generations to come, recapturing Massachusetts discretionary spending that, for 20 years, has generated billions of dollars in tax revenues and thousands of jobs in Connecticut and Rhode Island,” Richard Fields, principal owner of Suffolk Downs, said in a statement earlier this year. “But with our proposal comes a commitment to create a venue that complements East Boston, Revere and surrounding communities.”
On Tuesday, 56 percent of voters in Boston rejected the casino referendum, while a majority of voters in Revere showed their support for the controversial facility. The proposed project needed the support of voters in both areas to proceed, as the property stretches beyond Boston city limits and 53 acres into Revere.
If the project is to proceed at the Suffolk Downs site, the property lines will have to be reshaped by Dec. 31, the deadline for final proposals, to fit entirely inside Revere.
The referendum’s defeat came as a victory for No Eastie Casino, a grassroots organization formed to unite the casino’s opponents. The group held multiple rallies and community forums in the months leading up to Tuesday’s vote.
“A casino at Suffolk Downs in East Boston would drastically and negatively change East Boston,” No Eastie Casino Co-Chair Celeste Meyers said in a press release. “We urge the City of Boston to stand against dangerous businesses preying on its residents.”
In the months following the passage of the Expanded Gaming Act, multiple corporations put in bids to partner with Suffolk Downs in the application for Boston’s only casino license. Caesars Entertainment Corporation was granted the partnership and spent more than $2 million campaigning for a “yes” vote in Tuesday’s election, according to the New York Times.
However, in mid-October the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau revealed information that prompted Suffolk Downs to request that Caesars remove its bid. The commission had concerns sparked by a pre-existing partnership between Caesars and Gansevoort hotels, whose owner is alleged to have ties to Russian organized crime, according to the State House News Service.
Tuttle penned a letter on Oct. 18 asking Caesars to resign as the project manager and the corporation obliged. However, because ballots had already been printed, Tuesday’s voters were asked to rule on a Caesars casino. Because this wording appeared on ballots in Revere, opponents are within their rights to challenge the result in court.
Competing against Suffolk Downs for the permit to build in District A is Steve Wynn, Las Vegas casino mogul who has proposed a $1.2 billion waterfront project on the Mystic River in Everett, and Foxwoods, which is planning a $1 billion development in Milford.
According to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s website, the casino is expected to create thousands of jobs and generate $300 million to $500 million dollars in new state revenue, but opponents fear it will increase crime and gaming addictions in poor neighborhoods.
