Critics remain, but Plainridge Park debut mostly quiet
PHOTOS/EDD COTE
The Plainridge Park slots parlor in Plainville opened in June.
Plainridge Park, the first gambling venue to open in Massachusetts, has more than 1,200 slot machines. The state in 2011 also approved three resort casinos.
Jack Lank, president of the United Regional Chamber of Commerce
In 2008, then-Gov. Deval Patrick proposed a law allowing casino gambling in the state. For the next seven years, the issue was the subject of almost constant controversy. Supporters argued that Massachusetts casinos would create good jobs and bring in tax money while stemming the flow of locals to out-of-state slot machines and poker tables. Opponents warned of growing gambling addiction, increased crime and an oversaturation of casinos in the Northeast that would keep them from being the cash cows residents were promised.
The first Massachusetts gambling location, the Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, opened in late June and, so far, things seem to be going smoothly enough. The facility, with more than 1,200 slot machines, live and simulcast harness racing and several bars and restaurants, pulled in $6.1 million in gambling revenues alone during its first week in operation, according to the state Gaming Commission. The commission estimates Plainridge will make about $200 million in gross gaming revenues in its first year of operation.
For now, a lone wolf
Michele Collins, the slots parlor's vice president for marketing, said that since this is the first gambling facility in the state, management didn't know for sure how much business to expect. But she said so far Plainridge has been pleased with the reception it's gotten.
“Just opening a large facility in a market as large as Massachusetts and being the only one means things are busy,” she said in an email. “Because this has never happened here before every day offers new experiences and there is a natural learning curve. But it's also very exciting for all of us to be a part of something like this.”
Plainville Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes said there were some traffic backups on opening day, but since then he hasn't gotten any complaints about congestion or other problems around Plainridge Park.
“I think there will be impact, but nothing that is so dramatic as to be measurable,” he said.
Jack Lank, president of the United Regional Chamber of Commerce, which covers Plainville, said there were typical traffic headaches during the construction of the slots parlor, but things seemed to calm down once that was over. A new highway ramp and traffic lights have kept traffic under control, he said. And Lank said he's hearing good things from local restaurants, hotels, and convenience stores about the initial economic impact on the area.
“I think it has had a tremendous ripple effect on all of our local businesses,” he said. “Everybody's still in the honeymoon stage.”
Lank said the chamber started working with the company behind the slots parlor, Penn National Gaming Inc., long before Plainridge Park opened, facilitating partnerships with local businesses. The Wrentham Village Premium Outlets shopping area, for example, stands to gain from the tourists drawn to the slots parlor.
“Say you come down with your other half, and they don't want to play the slots,” Lank said. “Well, they have a shuttle that can take you down there. You can do some shopping.”
A decline in lotto sales for Plainridge neighbors?
One group of businesses with some reason to fear Plainridge Park is agents for the state lottery, particularly bars, restaurants and stores that offer Keno games.
Michael Sweeney, interim director of the state lottery, said his staff is closely monitoring sales around the slots parlor. Speaking just a few weeks after Plainridge Park opened, he said the numbers are too preliminary to draw solid conclusions, but there has been a measurable decline in lottery sales within a 15-mile radius of the slots parlor. Depending on the product, the drop has been between 2 percent and 6 percent, Sweeney said.
On the other hand, Plainridge Park itself acts as a lottery agent for the state, selling instant game tickets in its gift shop, as well as hosting lottery machines in the lobby and Keno in two on-site bars. Within five weeks, including some soft opening time before the official grand opening, the slots parlor netted more than $200,000 in lottery sales, Sweeney said.
Still, he said, there's obvious tension between the two forms of legal gambling.
“Plainridge is competition for us,” he said. “We view it as friendly competition. We have a good relationship with them, but we are territorial about our products.”
At the same time, Sweeney said lottery employees have been working closely with the other lottery agents in the area, trying to help them find ways to keep their sales up.
In some cases, the extra traffic coming into town may balance out any competition Plainridge Park provides.
Andrea Hernandez, a cashier at Route 1 Mobile, a Plainville gas station and convenience store, said she thinks she's been selling a few more lottery tickets thanks to an increase in traffic going by. Overall, she said, sales at the store are definitely up as more people get gas, cigarettes and other quick purchases.
“I feel like people are just stopping here at the store more since there's more movement on this road,” she said. “It's a good thing that the casino's there. It brings more people here. It's definitely brought up business.”
The plan for Plainridge Park received lots of local support from the beginning, in part because it offered a way to keep the town's struggling harness racing facility alive. The state Gaming Commission approved it partly because its location seemed perfect for collecting gambling dollars that were flowing out of the state and into Rhode Island and Connecticut.
But not everyone bought that notion. Mary-Ann Greanier helped found the group No Plainville Racino in an unsuccessful bid to stop the project. Greanier, whose house was located next door to the Plainridge Park site, was so adamantly opposed to the slot parlor that, after it was approved, she moved out of the town where she'd lived for 35 years and into Littleton.
“We didn't want to live in a town that was getting revenue from a casino,” she said.
Greanier said she was also worried that the slots parlor would be an unpleasant neighbor, leading to traffic and other problems. But so far those concerns may have been unfounded.These days, she's been returning to the neighborhood almost every day because she's still in the process of selling the house. Greanier says she's been pleasantly surprised at how little disruption there's been.
“The traffic is not as bad as we had anticipated so far,” she said. “From what I've been told at least, there hasn't been any increase in traffic issues or DUIs … And it would be so great if there aren't any. It would be fantastic,” Greanier said,
While Greanier said she hopes she won't end up in a position to say “I told you so,” she's still in wait-and-see mode.
Like many casino opponents across the state, Greanier said she's worried about the long-term economics of the industry, including what will happen when the three resort casinos allowed under the Massachusetts law are all up and running — and also what will happen if things don't go as planned and they fail to generate the expected revenue for the state.
Larger projects face delays
Plainridge Park was the smallest operation licensed under the Massachusetts law. MGM Springfield in Western Massachusetts may open in 2018, after requesting a delay in its schedule because of highway construction. Wynn Resorts' planned casino in Everett has also been delayed, due to legal challenges by the nearby communities of Boston, Revere, and Somerville as well as a traffic study requested by Attorney General Maura Healey. The state expects to award the final license, for a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts, in 2016.
Meanwhile, Greanier wonders whether a full resort casino in the Southeastern part of the state could hurt Plainridge Park's profits, pushing it to ask for reduced property taxes or seek state permission to open gambling tables. Collins downplayed concern about future competition, saying Penn National is not focusing on that right now. She's also worried about pawnshops and payday lenders popping up in her old neighborhood to appeal to desperate gamblers.
For now, though, everyone is watching closely to see what happens next. For Greanier, that means hoping that her worst fears will prove unfounded. Meanwhile, supporters of the slots parlor , such as Town Manager Fernandes, are waiting for more data to see if their views will be vindicated or if they'll have more headaches than they expected to contend with.
The slots parlor's impacts will probably be “more observable over the course of time,” Fernandes said.
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