FALL RIVER, MA-Spurned by voters in nearby Milford in a referendum this past November, Foxwoods is now in negotiations with municipal leaders here on plans to build a $750-million resort casino. At a news conference Tuesday, Fall River Mayor William Flanagan said the project would create between 3,000 and 5,000 jobs, according to published reports.
In addition to a casino spanning some 140,000 square feet, the resort would include 20 restaurants, a hotel, a convention center, a spa and an entertainment center for concerts and other events, officials from Fall Rver and Foxwoods said at Tuesday's conference. Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera said the facility would be an economic engine for southeastern Massachusetts and “a real tourist destination,” according to South Coast Today. Flanagan added that the city wanted this to “a destination here in Massachusetts as well as the Northeast.”
Next steps include the identification of a site. Flanagan said the city had formed a committee to help Foxwoods identify parcels; the casino operator wants between 30 and 70 acres for the project.
The project would need to pass muster with both local voters and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Massachusetts enacted a law in 2011 to allow one licensed casino in each of four regions in the state, and gave preference to a federally recognized tribe as the developer and operator. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has plans of its own to build a casino in nearby Taunton.
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