City Council President James Ferrera said William Hornbuckle, MGM's chief marketing officer, and 2 other MGM representatives were part of a meeting.
James FerreraSPRINGFIELD — A taste of Las Vegas could be coming to the tornado-damaged South End of Springfield.
City Council President James J. Ferrera III said that he met with three executives from MGM Resorts International of Las Vegas on Monday who told him that they are looking at the South End to build a resort casino, from the area of State and Main streets to Union and Main streets.
"They had plans and renderings," Ferrera said on Friday.
He said he was told that the company, which backed out of a proposal to build a resort casino in Brimfield earlier this year due to infrastructure issues, would be unveiling its new plan sometime in the next 30 days.
Ferrera said that MGM has options on the properties along that stretch in the downtown area. He said he was not given specifics regarding square footage or acreage of the project, but said he was told that MGM is working with hotel developer Paul C. Picknelly.
Paul PicknellyPicknelly, president of Monarch Enterprises, could not be reached for comment.
Ferrera said William Hornbuckle, MGM's chief marketing officer, and two other MGM representatives were part of the meeting, and that they requested to meet with him.
Ferrera created a Casino Site Committee, a special council subcommittee, to meet in public with casino developers interested in Springfield and to solicit input from the public. Recommendations would then be issued to the City Council, he has said.
In addition to MGM, Ferrera said he has met with representatives from Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas and Hard Rock International of Florida. Ameristar has purchased the former Westinghouse property off Page Boulevard for its project. Ferrera said his committee will meet with Ameristar on Aug. 20.
Hard Rock, which dropped its plan for Holyoke, is looking at the downtown area, but hasn't offered specifics, Ferrera said. He said he has not been contacted by Penn National Gaming of Wyomissing, Pa., which also has expressed an interest in creating a casino proposal for the city or elsewhere in Western Massachusetts.
"I'm more than happy to meet with any developer to tell them how much potential Springfield has," Ferrera said.
A spokesperson for MGM said earlier in the day on Friday that the company continues to explore opportunities throughout Western Massachusetts, and will continue to reach out to Springfield's community leaders.
The company released the following statement: "In touring Springfield, we were particularly struck by the devastation that the June 2011 tornado caused in the South End so we decided to meet with folks at the hard-hit South End Community Center to see if we could be helpful. Having worked in a similar environment in Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina, we have a keen understanding of the broad and disabling impact Mother Nature has on a community in these kinds of situations."
MGM has a resort in Mississippi – Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi – that had to be rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.
