Town leaders, casino pitch each other

Casino supporters hold rally in Palmer

By Douglas Farmer
Staff Writer

PALMER – Acknowledging that a resort casino in Palmer is not a foregone conclusion, supporters of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority’s vision for a facility on acreage off the Massachusetts Turnpike voiced their continued commitment to the concept Tuesday night.
Town leaders and like-minded residents pledged they would communicate with each other and state officials in Boston – particularly the new state gaming commission, to be headed by former gubernatorial chief of staff Stephen Crosby and other soon-to-be-named appointees – to make a strong case that a casino would bring economic development to the town and the entire region. For the Palmer site is but one of several that are likely to be the centerpiece of applications that also include potential casinos in Brimfield, Springfield and Holyoke.
And speakers at a casino rally co-sponsored by Palmer Businesses for a Palmer Casino and Citizens for Jobs & Growth in Palmer held at the Steaming Tender on Dec. 20 said Gov. Deval Patrick’s signature on “An Act Relative to Expanded Gaming in the Commonwealth” earlier this fall was only the beginning of the process.
Speakers at Tuesday’s event included Robert Young, spokesperson for Palmer Businesses for a Palmer Casino; Town Councilor Blake Lamothe, owner of the Steaming Tender (the former Union Station) and head of the Palmer Redevelopment Authority; state Rep. Angelo Puppolo (D-Springfield); Palmer Town Council President Paul Burns; Palmer School Committee Vice Chairman James St. Amand, a liaison for Northeast Realty, from whom Mohegan is leasing their Palmer land; and Paul Brody, vice president for development at the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority.
“We applaud Mohegan for continuing to be committed to Palmer,” said Young. “The best thing we can do is to let our elected officials know that we want to make sure Palmer gets a casino. In my years in Palmer, the quality of life in town has gone down, but this is an opportunity to bring it back.”
And while Burns acknowledged there were concerns about the negative impacts a casino may bring to the town and region, Mohegan’s casino proposal – the overall development scheme includes a casino, hotel, events center, shops and restaurants – presents the most significant potential economic investment in town in the last 20 or 30 years.
Burns asked for his sons Jared, Nicholas and George to join him at the front of the room. “I’m not just doing this for casino gaming, I’m doing it for them,” he said. “Many jobs have left Palmer and we need to invest in our kids’ future and provide an economic driver from Worcester to Springfield.”
Both Burns and Young thanked Puppolo for his attendance and his support of the casino prospect, and noted that they wished there was more vocal advocacy for a Palmer casino from state Rep. Todd Smola (R-Palmer), who voted against the gaming bill.
“We fought hard to get a casino for Western Massachusetts guaranteed in the bill,” said Puppolo.
He acknowledged that the Springfield proposal, where Las Vegas-headquartered Ameristar Casinos, Inc. has announced an agreement to buy the former Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard, might be of interest to some of his constituents, but that he believed the Palmer site worked. “In these times, casinos are moving away from the urban mindset into the rural model like we have here,” he said.
And that was no doubt welcome news to Lamothe, who is not only a champion of a casino in Palmer, but also of passenger rail service – with a stop at his location. He said an “inter-nodal transportation approach” will be one of the ways to pitch a Palmer casino to the gaming commission, and the Central Corridor Rail Coalition has been formed to reestablish passenger rail service from Connecticut to Vermont, with Palmer as a hub.
“There used to be five hotels downtown, with trains passed through all the time,” he said. “We want to invest in the town’s future.”
One downtown business owner, only a few doors down from the Mohegan Sun Palmer storefront, is Nancy Bryant, proprietor of Giclee of New England, who attended Tuesday’s event. She said she had mixed feelings about a casino but wanted to see more business in town.
“I’m not a gambler but I think as a business owner, you have to be in favor of something that’s going to bring more people into town,” she said. “And of course, I’ve asked them to consider local artwork when they build the hotel.”
As for Brody, he said the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority looked forward to being part of the community.
“We are recommitting ourselves to the Palmer project,” he said. “We have no illusions that Palmer is a done deal. This will be a very robust competition, but we are looking forward to working toward our goal with the town.”

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