Suffolk Downs Reconsidering Options After Voters Reject Plan
BOSTON (CBS) --- Suffolk Downs says it will reconsider its options after voters rejected a plan to build a casino in East Boston.
Suffolk Downs is part of a 52 acre site that sits in the City of Revere and East Boston.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mark Katic reports
Suffolk Downs Reconsidering Options After Voters Reject Plan
Voters in Revere said "yes" to a casino by a big margin but because Suffolk Downs straddles Revere and East Boston, both communities had to say yes.
Despite massive spending to convince residents the casino was a good idea, 56-percent of East Boston voters said no.
"On the face of it the referendum is definitive and that's the end of it," Gaming Commissioner Chairman Stephen Crosby told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
Crosby tells WBZ NewsRadio, he's not sure the old racetrack could get a new proposal together in time to meet the December 31st deadline.
"Suffolk Downs might try to reconfigure to see if they could be only in Revere. I don't know if we can accommodate that. We just hadn't thought about it," he said.
Yet Revere's mayor wants to make a go at it, asking Suffolk Downs to reshape the project that has already lost its casino operator and build solely on the property in his town.
"Our community will continue to fight so that Revere can win this boost to our local economy," Mayor Dan Rizzo said.
The town of Milford will hold a vote for a Foxwoods casino in two weeks. They're competing with Wynn Casinos for the Eastern Mass license.
Everett already OK-ed a development.
