PHILIP MARCELO, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Despite a lack of major construction activity, casino operator MGM said yesterday it is making efforts to comply with its commitments to Springfield as part of its host community agreement.
The company, which is building an $800 million resort in downtown, delivered the first in a series of required compliance reports to Mayor Domenic Sarno on April 1.
The roughly 50-page report, which was posted on the city redevelopment authority website Wednesday afternoon, highlights information sessions MGM has been holding for local vendors and suppliers as well as efforts to develop workforce training programs for prospective local employees. It also notes that a number of obligations do not take effect until casino operations begin.
City Solicitor Ed Pikula declined to say whether the administration believed the company was complying with the agreement, as the report suggests.
“We plan to post the reports on the City’s website so that the public can review it themselves,” he said in a statement. “Between the state regulations, licensing terms, and Host Community Agreement requirements, this is one of the most heavily regulated projects I have ever seen.
MGM said 206 businesses have signed up for a database of interested vendors and suppliers for the construction project, which has been billed as the largest economic development effort the region has seen in generations.
The company has also been a regular presence at regional career and job fairs for nearly three years. MGM said it has even recruited and hired residents and college students in western Massachusetts for internship and management training opportunities at its Las Vegas properties.
The company has already paid Springfield more than $1 million, as well as purchased roughly $30 million in real estate to develop the site.
The city expects to see at least $17.6 million in annual gambling-related payments when the casino actually opens its doors, as well as roughly $700,000 a year in property taxes.
MGM still has not started major work at the 14.5-acre site despite holding a ceremonial groundbreaking attended by hundreds in March, when they had expected to begin construction in earnest.
MGM is still waiting for approval from the state to demolish a historic school building at the future site of its parking garage — the first major phase of the project.
A spokesman for the state historic commission said the panel is reviewing revised plans MGM submitted last week detailing how it will deal with the former school and other historic properties on the site. Some of the properties are expected to be razed while elements of others will be incorporated into the casino complex’s design.
MGM is trying to become Massachusetts’ first resort casino. The company expects to open the casino by 2017, after about 2 1/2 years of building.
The proposed casino complex calls for 3,000 slot machines, 75 gambling tables, a 250-room hotel, shops, restaurants, meeting and office space, apartments, a bowling alley and a cinema. The project is expected to create 3,000 permanent jobs and 2,000 temporary construction jobs.
