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    Thursday, December 05, 2024

    Mashantuckets involved in plan to reopen casino in Puerto Rico

    The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe is expected to make an announcement next week regarding the reopening of the El San Juan Casino at the Fairmont El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico.

    Details of the announcement could not be learned Wednesday night and tribal officials did not respond to messages seeking comment.

    The tribe, which owns Foxwoods Resort Casino, alerted media to a news conference scheduled to take place Tuesday in the hotel’s grand ballroom. The event will be accessible via Zoom.

    The Fairmont El San Juan Hotel, located in the San Juan beach neighborhood of Isla Verde, first opened in 1958 and was a hot spot in its heyday, according to published accounts. Closed after being damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017, the 388-room hotel reopened following a $65 million renovation. The casino had closed well before the hurricane struck and has remained closed.

    In 2016, the Mashantuckets announced they would lend financing and the Foxwoods brand to a proposed resort casino in Biloxi, Miss., a project that never materialized. Over the years, the tribe also has pursued out-of-state casino projects in Philadelphia, California, Kansas and Massachusetts.

    b.hallenbeck@theday.com

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