Springfield extends deadline for casino decision - WFSB 3 Connecticut

Springfield extends deadline for casino decision

The city of Springfield has extended the deadline to decide if one or both casino developers interested in the city will move forward in the process.

"We are making sure that we are thorough and we are making sure that we are going to be accurate," said Springfield Chief Executive Officer Kevin Kennedy.

Officials have pushed the deadline until Feb. 11.

"We're actually extending the time period about the same amount of time that we had extended the RFP portion that we had extended for them to submit proposals," said Kennedy.

Mayor Domenic Sarno made the decision after hearing recommendations from the city's ad hoc advisory and internal review committees.

"We spent a good two hours going over a number of details that it was obvious that we needed more time," said Kennedy.

Penn National wants to build an $807 million Hollywood-style casino in the city's north end.

While MGM is proposing a $800 million resort-casino in the south end.

Kennedy said in reviewing the proposals so far there are many things that both companies have been asked to clarify.

"We've asked for significant clarifications for instance people are very interested in what's going on transportation wise and we've asked for a number of clarifications in transportation from both proposers," said Kennedy.

Kennedy also said Friday that are officials working on creating a matrix that would compare both proposals to each other that would make it easier for the public to understand what both companies' in-depth plans are.

The hope is to have a casino question on the ballot in Springfield in June.

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