A newly formed spinoff of Penn National Gaming, which hopes to open a slots parlor in Plainville, came to the rescue yesterday of Crossroads Massachusetts and its gaming operator, Foxwoods, by agreeing to supply the financing they were missing in their bid to build a $1 billion resort casino in Milford.
The announcement that Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. had signed a letter of intent to finance the casino came four days before a Milford referendum on the project and only hours after the state Gaming Commission announced that the proposal was suitable to continue with the approval process, with conditions, one of which was that it obtain the equity financing before Dec. 31.
"This is a best case scenario for us, as GLPI is a known entity to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission," Scott Butera, Foxwoods' president and CEO, said in a statement. "Moving forward, we are fully invested in the application process and committed to delivering what we set out to build: a world-class resort casino bringing jobs, revenue, property tax abatement and infrastructure improvements in the best possible location in the state of Massachusetts."
The deal will also include the creation of a $1 million scholarship fund to allow Milford students to pursue college or "other vocational avenues within the gaming industry and elsewhere," Crossroads said in its announcement.
Milford Selectman Dino B. DeBartolomeis said news of the financing and the commission's conditional suitability decision "just eases people's doubts" about the proposed casino, which is expected to generate some 3,000 jobs and at least $25 million annually in taxes for the town, lowering property taxes for the average single-family home by $1,500.
"Hopefully, people on Tuesday will say, 'Hey, this is a good thing,'" he said.
But Tim Spino, one of the project's most outspoken critics, said he was disappointed with the commission's decision and believed it was motivated by concern that Suffolk Downs — another contender for the sole casino license in Eastern Massachusetts — would not find a gaming partner, leaving only Las Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn's proposal in Everett.
"They wanted to keep another player in there as an option," said Spino, who has lived in Milford for 31 years. "The bottom line is the financial integrity of this town is stronger than the financial integrity of Foxwoods. You're going to forever change the character of your town for what?"
Meanwhile, a grass-roots effort to ban casinos in Massachusetts is making a final push to gather signatures ahead of a Wednesday deadline for a ballot question. Organizers of Repeal the Casino Deal, including Scott Harshbarger, held a news conference yesterday saying they would be flooding the state this weekend gathering signatures.
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