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August 6, 2013

Plainville Site Out In Slots License Quest

By Rick Saia

The odds of Central Massachusetts becoming home to the state’s only slots parlor improved Monday after the state gaming commission ruled the developers for the proposed site in Plainville as unqualified.

The commission, meanwhile, gave the go-ahead for developers of the Raynham site. The developers of proposed sites in Leominster and Millbury have already passed the commission’s muster while the developer of a site in Tewksbury is still awaiting a suitability hearing before the commission.

Monday’s actions reduce the field of competitors for the slots license to four. While those four communities have signed host community agreements with their respective developers, voters in all four communities are expected to go to the polls within the next seven weeks to decide whether they want a slots parlor in their community. Voters in Leominster and Millbury will cast their ballots Sept. 24. Voters in Raynham are scheduled to vote Aug. 13, followed Sept. 21 by Tewksbury voters.

Following a lengthy investigation, the gaming commission denied the application of the Plainville developer, Plainville Racecourse Ourway Realty, citing “deeply troubling” business practices by the former head of the organization. In its decision, the commission said John Grogan, who became president of the organization earlier this year, has little experience in the gaming industry and no relevant experience in appropriate executive roles.

In a response published in the Sun-Chronicle of Attleborough, a spokesman for Plainridge, Bill Ryan, said the company is “disappointed by the decision and is evaluating its options and alternatives.”

Read more

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Leominster Slots Plan Gets ZBA OK

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