With the deadline looming this week for proposals for a Hartford-area casino, Enfield and Windsor Locks are no longer in the running and Hartford never seriously considered getting into the race.
East Hartford is jockeying for position with the backing of town leaders and with detailed plans in hand for the long-abandoned Showcase Cinemas along I-84.
And East Windsor is counting itself in the pack.
The tribes that operate the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos are seeking to jointly open and operate a gaming venue in the capital region to blunt competition from a megacasino now under construction in nearby Springfield. For the past month, the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequots have sought proposals from towns and cities.
The tribes said late last week that they don't intend to announce the names of the municipalities submitting proposals when the deadline passes Friday at 4 p.m. But at least East Hartford and East Windsor appear locked in.Denise Menard, East Windsor's first selectman, said the town will propose a casino at another shuttered Showcase Cinema visible from I-91, about 8 miles from the East Hartford theater and a 12-minute drive away, and an adjoining property where there was once a Wal-Mart.The town, which has been trying to market the vacant buildings for years, has secured support from the owners of those properties."We don't have a plan for the buildings," Menard said, "but who knows better how to build a casino than the casinos?"Menard said there is the potential for a second proposal from East Windsor. A developer has approached the town, and there have been some preliminary discussions. Menard declined to identify the developer or the property.This fall, with authorization from the state to start the process, the tribes — fierce gaming competitors for two decades — joined forces and began moving quickly to build a midsize casino in north-central Connecticut to compete against the $800 million MGM Springfield development.The tribes expect to pick a location by Dec. 15, in time for approval in the 2016 legislative session. But they indicated last week that a decision could come much sooner, possibly within a week of the application deadline.The Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans said they don't have a target for a minimum number of proposals. An extension of the deadline to allow for more proposals is possible, they said, but unlikely, given the project's tight time line.They envision a casino with 2,000 slot machines and 100 to 150 tables, with an estimated development cost of $200 million to $300 million. The size of the casino and other amenities would range from 150,000 to 350,000 square feet.The goal is to keep casino-goers in Connecticut with a location that provides gambling, but not all the glitz and attractions of the flagship Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos. The tribes and the state say the effort is designed to keep revenue and jobs in Connecticut amid an increasingly competitive gambling industry.The MGM project in Springfield is scheduled to open in fall 2018, and the tribes hope to beat that date by a year or more.The tribes have said they want the easiest possible site to develop in the shortest amount of time with the fewest costs, and with benefits such as visibility and proximity to large populations.To submit a proposal, both the town and a developer or landowner must sign off. But other approvals, such as a town referendum required in East Windsor, would come later.Anthony W. Ravosa Jr. of Glastonbury, who assembled a team of developers to draw up plans to renovate the East Hartford movie theater, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2008, is working on a new set of plans, building on ones he presented earlier this year."Convenience is going to rule the roost on the success of this project," Ravosa said. "We have virtually the nexus of every single state road and interstate highway touching East Hartford."The tribes said they sought proposals through a request for proposals to draw in as many bids as possible."We're not thinking there are hundreds out there," said Barbara Pearce, the Branford real estate broker and lawyer hired by the tribes to gather and evaluate the proposals, "but with the amount of work it will take, most people who choose to submit will have a viable application."Some casino plans floated in the past month have come up against strong opposition.In early October, more than 200 residents in Enfield packed a meeting on plans to locate a casino in the Enfield Square Mall, giving it a resounding thumbs down. Those opposing a gambling venue at the mall said they were concerned about crime and traffic.On Friday, Mayor Scott Kaupin said the town had decided not to submit a proposal.And a week ago, a plan by the Connecticut Airport Authority to bring the casino to Bradley International Airport was turned down by the board of selectmen in Windsor Locks. The airport saw the casino as a way to add another source of income, but a revenue-sharing agreement would have had to be worked out with the tribes."We have lost one of what would have been a viable option," Kevin Brown, chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council, said Friday. "It limits us to one less option."Part of the reason behind the rejection in Windsor Locks was that two of the three selectmen were not running for re-election in Tuesday's municipal elections. The fallout of such a major decision might then be left to officials who aren't now in office. But there also were concerns about the cost of expanding the town's police force and other disruptions.At the time of the vote, Rep. Peggy Sayers, D-Windsor Locks, said that she would not rule out looking into ways that the legislature could allow the airport and the tribal nations to enter into casino discussions directly.Pearce said the tribes did consider the implications of municipal elections falling just three days before the proposal deadline, but decided to stick with their time line rather than pushing back the deadline.East Windsor's Menard said that town has also weighed the pros and cons of a casino. She sees a clear economic development boost for the town's business corridor and the accompanying tax revenue."The downsides are concerns about traffic and crime, as well," Menard said.Meanwhile, in Springfield, MGM is scaling back its plans for its casino and entertainment complex. Retail and restaurant space, a bowling alley and a movie theater have all been made smaller than initially planned; 387 parking spaces were eliminated and a 25-story hotel tower has been reduced to six stories, but with the same number of rooms.Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, said Friday that those moves are evidence that the push for a third casino in Connecticut is working.
"It speaks for itself," Butler said. "It is making them rethink what they are doing in Massachusetts."
Courant staff writer Mikaela Porter contributed to this story.
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