Casino Springfield Mass Opening

Posted on3/26/2022by admin

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SPRINGFIELD — When MGM Springfield officially opened its doors Friday morning, one thing was certain: As long as it is in business, it will never close.

Specialties: MGM Springfield is a new 240 room hotel and casino located in downtown Springfield. It features 74,000 square feet of gaming, 34,000 square feet of meeting space, movie theater, bowling alley. Dining choices include The. For the town of Springfield, the reopening is welcome news. MGM Springfield opened in August of 2018 and in just two years, the casino has become a key part of the local economy. It employs about.

The casino and resort, a $960 million project MGM began in 2011, will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Yet the ability to check out the resort’s wares at any time did not appear to deter opening day crowds.

According to MGM, about 10,000 people showed up for grand opening festivities outside, a mass that stretched all the way around the block from State Street to Main Street.

Inside the casino was also bustling, with swirling crowds playing slots and casino games and standing in a long line to sign up for the M life Rewards loyalty program.

Some came to game, others to enjoy the atmosphere, and many showed up simply to satisfy their curiosity. There was even a man who attended the opening to enjoy some family fun with his children.

Carla Gallo, a postal worker and real estate agent from North Branford Connecticut, said she came out, “For the experience of the opening of a casino.”

Gallo said that she normally gambles at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

“Winning money,” she said, on what she was looking forward to most about the day.

Joe Genest said that he traveled from St. George, Vermont, for the casino opening, which he said is 250 miles away.

“We had nothing else to do today,” said Genest, who is retired.

Fred Santana, a retired postal worker from New Salem, said that he loves the atmosphere of casinos.

“This is good, this is good so far,” said Santana, of MGM Springfield, who noted he’s been to casinos in Atlantic City, New Orleans and Las Vegas.

He also expressed happiness about the casino being in Springfield, because he will not have to travel as far to visit one.

“I put 40,000 miles of casino miles on my car,” he said, adding that he anticipated becoming a regular visitor.

While slots were the most popular game among those interviewed, Santana said he prefers roulette.

“That’s the best game in the house,” he said.

Marc Menard, of Agawam, said he came out for the casino’s grand opening “to check out the future of Springfield.”

Menard, a security guard, said that he doesn’t gamble often, but that he will return to the casino again.

Curiosity drew Eli Berrios and her daughter Genesis Gonzalez, of Springfield, to the casino.

“It’s beautiful,” said Berrios, on MGM Springfield. “Good job.”

Genesis also said that the resort was nice, but expressed disappointment at the lack of a buffet.

Berrios said that she would gamble at a later date, when she wasn’t with her daughter.

Although he said he doesn’t gamble a lot, Ralph Pelletier, of Chicopee, said he will be switching his business to MGM Springfield from the Connecticut casinos.

“You have two or three slot plays just for the gas money,” he said.

He also said that the casino was nicer than he thought it would be.

One man who didn’t show an interest in gambling was John Rossini, an off-duty state trooper who was enjoying a game of air hockey with his young daughter Julia at the resort’s TAP Sports Bar when the Gazette caught up with him.

Rossini’s wife is assisting with the opening of the casino’s salon and spa, and he brought three of the family’s kids down for the opening to check out what the casino has to offer families.

“I think it’s going to be great,” said Rossini, of Wilbraham, pointing to movies, bowling, dining and games. “I think it’s just going to be a great thing for the city and the surrounding towns.”

The movie theater did not open with the rest of the casino complex on Friday.

Rossini also said that he’s looking forward to the entertainment, dinners and shows MGM will offer.

One man interviewed sounded a note of caution.

Ken Lucas, of East Longmeadow, grew up in Springfield, and he said that he attended the opening because he didn’t have anything else to do. He said he wanted to see how many people came out.

“This place could turn into Back to the Future II,” said Lucas, who sells chemicals and solvents to the medical marijuana market. “If I feel that way I’ll probably move out of the area.”

In Back to the Future II, a casino forms the centerpiece of a dystopian version of Hill Valley, the hometown of the series’ protagonist, Marty McFly.

Lucas said that with one casino planned for Connecticut in the south and another in Boston, a casino alone will not be enough to draw people in and that other forms of entertainment, particularly those directed at families, would have to come to town as well.

“I think they’re really going to have to go all in,” Lucas said.

Still, Lucas said that he is rooting for the development to succeed, and that he enjoys going to casinos.

“I think it’s very nice,” said Lucas. “I hope it succeeds and does well.”

He also noted an activity that anyone can participate in at MGM.

“You can just come down here and people watch if you get bored,” he said.

Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.

MGM Springfield
Location	Springfield, Massachusetts
Address	One MGM Way, Springfield, MA 01103
Opening date	August 24, 2018^[1]
Theme	History of Springfield
No. of rooms	250^[2]
Total gaming space	125,000 sq ft (11,600 m²)
Signature attractions	Massmutual Center (currently operated by MGM)Outdoor Concert Area
Notable restaurants	WahlBurgers Costa Chandler Steakhouse Taps Sportsbar
Owner	MGM Resorts International
Coordinates	Coordinates: 42°5′56.77″N72°35′13.32″W / 42.0991028°N 72.5870333°W
Website	mgmspringfield.com

MGM Springfield is a hotel and casino complex situated in the heart of Metro Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Opening on August 24, 2018 in a block of buildings that are historically or culturally influential to Springfield, it became the first resort casino in the Commonwealth.^[1] It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International.^[3] MGM Springfield opened its doors to the public on August 24, 2018. It was then temporarily closed on March 14, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened to the public on July 13, 2020, after nearly 4 months of being closed, with safety precautions and reduced capacity in place. Chris Kelly is the current President and COO of the MGM Springfield.

History[edit]

Proposals[edit]

MGM Springfield was one of three proposals in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts for the Western Massachusetts casino license. Casinos were also proposed for Holyoke, Palmer, and West Springfield. On December 2, 2012, MGM Springfield and Penn National's Springfield proposal became the remaining two proposals for Springfield when Ameristar withdrew its Springfield proposal for the former Westinghouse site.^[4]

On April 30, 2013, Mayor Dominic Sarno selected MGM Springfield as the winning proposal for the City of Springfield, defeating the Penn National proposal for the north end of the city, and on July 16 Springfield voters approved the casino application, making MGM Springfield the state's first proposal to win voter approval in its host community. MGM was then in a three-way race with Hard Rock's West Springfield proposal and Mohegan Sun's Palmer proposal. On September 11, 2013, West Springfield voters voted to block the Hard Rock proposal, leaving only MGM and Mohegan Sun in the race for the license. MGM Springfield won the bid for the Western Massachusetts license on November 6, 2013, when Palmer voters blocked the Mohegan Sun proposal, leaving MGM Springfield as the only Western Massachusetts proposal to win voter approval. (Had either Hard Rock or Mohegan Sun won voter approval, the state's gaming commission would have had to make the final decision.)^[4]

MGM officially received the license on June 13, 2014. It joined two other license winners: Penn National, which was awarded the slot parlor license, and Wynn Massachusetts, which was awarded the Eastern Massachusetts Region A casino license. As of November 6, 2014, it received its Region B license^[4] and is expected to open in 2018.^[5]

On November 4, 2014, a referendum attempting to ban casinos in the state failed.^[6] The plan for the construction of the casino at the time would have required the demolition of some buildings in downtown, including the partial demolition of one on the National Register of Historic Places.^[7]

MGM design[edit]

The South End Market, built out of the former United Electric Building, is one example of ways the casino complex was integrated into the city's historical landscape

On September 22, 2015, MGM unveiled a redesigned site plan for the project, abandoning the 25-story glass-facade hotel on State Street in favor of a 6-story hotel on Main Street. The changes also included the reduction of the parking garage by one floor and the market-rate apartments being moved off-site.^[8]

MGM has pledged to create about 3,000 permanent jobs to benefit the local community. The company announced that it would have various job descriptions available, including security officer, assistant executive housekeeper, food and beverage manager, host person, 21 dealer, concierge, assistant front desk manager, front desk clerk, and housekeeper, a spokeswoman gave as some examples.^[9]

MGM Springfield opened to the public on August 24, 2018. The $960,000,000 project is built in an area that sustained significant damage by a tornado that struck Springfield on June 1, 2011.^[10] The 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m²) complex contains a gaming area surrounded by a parking garage, hotel, spa, movie theater, restaurants, and shops. The 125,000-square-foot (11,600 m²) casino features 2,550 slots, 120 table games, a high-limit room, and a poker room with 23 tables.^[11]

Shops[edit]

First Spiritualist Church[edit]

The relocated 129-year-old First Spiritualist Church from Bliss Street now sits past the former South End Community Center, through the MGM Springfield construction site to a pad where it now sits on Union Street.^{[citation needed]}

Notable tenants[edit]

Regal Cinemas - located adjacent to the casino hotel^{[citation needed]}
Wahlburgers - will be opening on the corner of Main and Union St. next to the plaza^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]