Worcester May Consider Taking Wyman-Gordon Site
Worcester city councilors are planning to ask City Manager Michael V. O'Brien to look into the feasibility of seizing the Wyman-Gordon site near Kelley Square that's being targeted for a slots parlor and hotel by eminent domain.
Slated for discussion at Tuesday night's council meeting, the measure, brought forth by Mayor Joseph Petty, asks O'Brien and the Worcester Redevelopment Authority to explore whether the city can take the property by eminent domain and use it for public purposes or as "a project under urban renewal regulations for economic development purposes."
Petty said the measure has most of the council's support as well as O'Brien's.
The proposal comes less than a week after a published report that said prominent Cambridge-based developer Richard L. Friedman, president and COO of Carpenter & Co. Inc, had interest in building a slots parlor and hotel on the 16-acre site on Madison Street.
But Petty said he wants to be clear that the eminent domain discussion is not meant to be seen a determent to a slots parlor.
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"I think, basically, this is a strategic property in Worcester that we've been talking about for over 10 years, and it seems like we're just not getting the attention from (the Wyman-Gordon) corporate headquarters," Petty said, adding that "some serious developers" have been showing interest in the site.
Ronnie Brooks, property manager for the Wyman-Gordon site, said he's been in talks with city officials about developing the site, where operations have largely been diminished for a decade. But city officials say calls and letters to Wyman-Gordon's parent company Precision Castparts Corp., based in Oregon, have not been returned.
Brooks said about 100 people still work at the Worcester site and the metals manufacturer has no plans to change operations, although the property is for sale.
"We've spent enormous money there to keep that manufacturing process going," Brooks said, adding that talks of eminent domain takeover and that the company hasn't been cooperative are "like a slap in the face."
He said developers have approached the company about a possible sale, but nothing has materialized, and that he always tells interested parties that they need to get the city's approval.
"We're not going to do anything the city's not happy with," he said.
Under last year's gaming expansion legislation, up to three casinos and one slots parlor will be allowed in the Bay State. An interested developer would have to submit an application and a $400,000 deposit to the state's Gaming Commission by Jan. 15. Plans would have to be approved in a city-wide voter referendum.
Reiterating what O'Brien said at last week's council meeting, Petty said the city hasn't seen specific plans from any developers yet.
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