Top Stories 2016: Tribes' third-casino push shows little progress
This is the eighth of 10 vignettes about the top local stories of the year, as
chosen by the staff of The Day. To see all of the top stories of the year, visit
www.theday.com/2016inreview.
With the year's end at hand and the General Assembly’s 2017 session due to begin Jan. 4, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes have said little about their efforts to settle on a “host” community for the third Connecticut casino they hope to develop in the Hartford area.
The tribes, owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, sought a second round of site proposals in September and have been vetting sites in East Hartford, East Windsor, Hartford, South Windsor and Windsor Locks. If and when they settle on one, the legislature is expected to take up a bill authorizing commercial gaming in the state.
The process is a year behind the schedule the tribes once hoped to meet.
Meanwhile, construction continues on MGM Springfield, the $950 million Massachusetts casino whose impact the tribes fear. It’s scheduled to open in September 2018.
— Brian Hallenbeck
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