Casino news source: Cape Cod Times - http://www.capecodonline.com
New Bedford seeks to outbid Middleboro for casino
April 29, 2007 6:00 AM
BOSTON ? New Bedford officials said yesterday they will step up efforts to convince the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to build a casino in their city, despite an agreement by the tribe's backers to purchase land in nearby Middleboro as a possible casino site.
"They'd be taking the second best option," New Bedford City Councilor David Alves said of the Wampanoag.
Alves said he'll continue to aggressively market a 95-acre waterfront location as a spot for a casino. "We're a welcome host for gaming, unlike many communities that have been untested," Alves said. "Middleboro has not said wholeheartedly that they'll take it."
The Mashpee Wampanoag will receive official federal recognition as a tribe on May 23, and tribal leaders want Gov. Deval Patrick and Beacon Hill lawmakers to pass legislation allowing them to build a casino.
The federal status already gives the tribe the right to operate bingo parlors within 50 miles of its tribal home on Cape Cod, but the tribe wants the state to pass a bill that would enable it to build a casino similar to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
New Bedford City Councilor Brian Gomes said a casino would bring jobs to a city with 9 percent unemployment. He acknowledged opposition to gambling because it can be addictive, but added, "Those are choices that people make in life."
Marsha Brunelle, chairwoman of the Middleboro Board of Selectmen, said her town offers the best location.
"We're off 495," she said of the interstate highway that rings Greater Boston. "It runs from the edge of the Cape all the way up to New Hampshire, with all the different connectors."
Brockton has also shown interest in hosting a casino, but City Council President Dennis Eaniri said yesterday that the project is unlikely because there's no large property available.
Patrick has a task force examining whether to support an expansion of legal gambling beyond the Massachusetts Lottery and the state's four racetracks. He expects a report by the end of the summer.
Detroit casino developer Herb Strather, who is backing the Mashpee Wampanoag, agreed to purchase the Middleboro land Friday. The land is off Route 44 and close to Interstate 495.
Tribal Chairman Glenn Marshall, who didn't return a call for comment yesterday, has indicated that no final decision has been made on Middleboro, and that sites in other communities are still being considered. |
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