We live in Springfield for all my 70 years, and the casino is about 10 minutes
away. The casino is a joke here - in a bad neighborhood. It is downtown Springfield,
a dead area because of the malls. The area is not great, and we don't go to that area
after dark, alot of crime and gang activity.
MGM has cut way back on their original proposal from 25 floors down to six, and they
said they won't lose many rooms - that is BS. That is an area that has nothing to do
after dark at all. They will be using the Civic Center for their entertainment. about a
block walk to get there. The Civic Center is a dead horse, no major entertainment and
basically a parking problem. We give the casino 5 years before it closes.
Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods is only a 50 - 60 minute drive from Springfield. Another
casino license is going to be issued for Worcester (about 30 minutes from Springfield)
on the Mass Pike, and Wynn is opening soon in Boston Harbor (Boston) a little over an
hour from here - too many casinos.
We are Total Rewards players (Caesars Group) and we really have no interest in MGM
because their players perks are nothing special - tier for tier, Total Rewards offers alot
more in perks than MGM.
Very bad choice of casino from the list of applications and a bad location chosen from
available areas .....

Being a lifelong resident of Springfield, just wanted to get my 2 cents in .....
Al Varelas / USMC
SS-1654