Roll the Dice

From Dave Brigham:

By an overwhelming majority last Saturday, voters in Everett, Mass., a hardscrabble city just north of Boston, endorsed Vegas mogul Steve Wynn's $1.2 billion proposal for a gaming resort. I recently took some pictures around the area, which are posted below.

But first, the story....

Developer of Wynn Las Vegas and other resorts including Wynn Macau, Steve Wynn is a titan of the Las Vegas strip. Can he bring his magic to a brownfield site along the long-neglected Mystic River?

Formerly a Monsanto Chemical facility, the 35-acre site will need massive cleanup before construction could begin. Wynn has promised to build a five-star hotel with 551 rooms in a bronze glass tower, according to the Boston Globe. Project plans also include an 18,000-square-foot ballroom and a 100,000-square-foot casino, in addition to a spa, nightclub, restaurants, shops, and an indoor glass “winter garden,” the Globe reported.

Everett's referendum is the first of three slated in eastern Massachusetts in advance of the state gambling commission's decision to award one Greater Boston license, which is expected early next year. By law, only one full resort license for that area will be granted. Wynn is up against proposed developments at the existing Suffolk Downs thoroughbred racetrack that straddles the East Boston-Revere city line, and one being pushed by Connecticut gaming mecca Foxwoods on a site in Milford, Mass., about 35 miles from Boston.

Voters in those areas will go to the polls, although dates haven't yet been set.

This is what the proposed site for Wynn's casino looks like now (photo stolen from the Boston Globe):

And this is what Wynn proposes (stolen from Sports Interaction's web site):

About a month ago I got turned around in Everett, on my way to buy a birthday present for my son, Owen, in the next town over. After I bought the gift, I decided to take some pictures, and headed back for the area of Everett where I'd mistakenly been earlier.

As it turns out, I was fairly close to the proposed Wynn casino site. I didn't get any pictures of the site, and didn't walk past it. But the photos I took give you a pretty good idea of what the neighborhood is like. The casino would be off of Broadway, which is a main thoroughfare that connects to Boston's Charlestown section.

There is a massive power plant across the street from the site, alongside a wharf where huge cargo ships can be seen. A scrap metal company sits hard by a playground and a diesel injection company. A set of railroad tracks divides the site from a bunch of big box stores.

If the gambling commission awards a license to Wynn, this area will take on a new sheen. But will many of the smaller businesses, such as convenience stores, bars and restaurants, survive? That's always the big question when large retailers and massive casinos come to town. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here's what I found on my walk around the area.

(This building now houses a small textile company.)

(This is one of several vacant buildings on a side street near the proposed casino.)

(Not sure what's up with this.)

(This place is closed. Not sure what letter the guitar represents.)

(Another abandoned building. Not sure if it's being renovated.)

(Funny that the "G & T" Lounge advertises Bud, instead of Gordon's or Tanqueray. Notice the pro-Wynn casino sign at the far right of the picture).