HARTFORD — East Hartford is making it official, submitting a proposal to locate a new tribal casino on the site of a former movie theater.
Connecticut communities interested in hosting the facility faced a deadline of 4 p.m. Friday to submit proposals to the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes.
The tribes hope to open a jointly run casino to compete with an $800 million casino complex planned by MGM Resorts International in Springfield, Massachusetts. Tribal officials say the new casino is needed to protect jobs at their Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort casinos in southeastern Connecticut.
The East Hartford site includes 25 acres of land and is visible from Interstate 84, with more than 130,000 cars passing daily.
Mayor Marcia Leclerc said the proposal “stands out as the most viable.”
Republican Senator. John A. Kissel, of Enfield expressed disappointment in the proposal submission process.
“This process has me both surprised and disappointed in the tribes,” Kissel said in a statement. “It’s as if the deck is stacked against our local decision-makers. How can anyone trust this process if the rules change mid-stream? These plans were shot down at the local level. Why bother having town councils or Planning and Zoning Commissions if their decisions are ignored?”
Kissel pointed to how the tribes recently changed the proposal submission process, resurrecting plans to build a casino at Bradley International Airport and at the Enfield Square mall.
Initially, Kissel noted, the tribes had required that both the town and the landowner sign off on proposals. But the tribes now are accepting “incomplete” applications. That change could lead to area property owners submitting applications without local leaders’ approval.
“From the very beginning, I was wary of this process,” he said in the statement. “It was one of the many reasons why I voted against the casino expansion legislation. These actions bear out that mistrust. So much for home rule. So much for rules at all. This is a sham, it is undemocratic, and frankly, it appears illegal. Taxpayers in north-central Connecticut and throughout the state can see what the tribes are doing.”
