At a media event Tuesday morning, Suffolk Downs officials laid out their plans to the public about what exactly they are proposing to build at the race track should they be granted a casino license.
What they revealed is that they want to build a casino with all the accompanying accoutremont but doing it in such a way that the casino is not the beginning and the end of the development.
In addition, the main building to house the casino and retail outlets and restaurants, et cetera, is designed to allow visitors to shop, to eat, to simply walk around without being directed into the casino. This is a step away from traditional casino design which literally forces visitors to end up inside the casino betting area.
Suffolk Downs is off and running, now.
Its long awaited rollout will be followed by public scrutiny, and then a referendum and finally the submission of its application for approval by the Casino Gambling Commission.
In the meantime, Suffolk Downs has already opened for the horseracing season and will be hosting quite a party on Saturday which coincides with the running of the Belmont in New York.
Under the legislation allowing casinos in Massachusetts, Suffolk Downs is required to keep horseracing open as part of the requirement for owning a casino license.
The rollout starts the process in a big way.
We wish Suffolk the best in its efforts. We believe a successful casino development there represents a major economic boost and the creation of thousands of jobs along the way.