Mohegan group wants Mass. casinoSigns deal to develop Palmer siteBy Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | August 2, 2007
The operators of the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, rather
than fight to keep gaming out of Massachusetts, want to open
their own casino in the western part of the state.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority signed an exclusivity deal
last week with a development company that owns a 150-acre
swath of land in Palmer, near the Massachusetts Turnpike,
according to Frank Fitzgerald, a lawyer involved in the deal.
The developers hope to build a retail complex whether or not
gaming is approved in Massachusetts. But they have teamed up
with Mohegan Sun so that if the state does back commercial
gaming, the tribe could apply for a license to operate a casino
on the site.
Observers view Mohegan Sun's foray into Massachusetts as a
sign that the Connecticut tribe sees expanded gaming in
Massachusetts as likely, if not inevitable, especially after
Middleborough approved a deal last weekend with the Mashpee
Wampanoag tribe to bring the state's first casino to the rural
Southeastern Massachusetts town. The Mohegan deal also
reflects the mania sweeping the state as gambling interests
from here and around the country line up for a piece of the
action.
-snip-