By announcing this project, MGM is sending a message to the Legislature, requiring a change
Casino gambling is currently limited to the two federal Indian reservations. However, the General Assembly has approved a plan for a third casino in East Windsor that would be jointly operated by the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes.
MGM Bridgeport plans would include 2,000 slot machines, 160 table games, a 700-seat theater, a 300-room hotel, retail space and dining options.
MGM said the privately financed casino would create 7,000 new jobs in the Bridgeport area and, if approved by state legislators, would give the state US$50 million in licensing fees in the current fiscal year. MGM, which considered Bridgeport for a casino in the 1990s, has been working on the project since June. If approved, it would take about a year for construction to begin and about 30 months before the complex would open.
"MGM Bridgeport is the right development at the right time and in the right place,” MGM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Murren said at a news conference with Steelpointe Harbor as the backdrop.
Murren emphasized the benefits of a Bridgeport casino and entertainment complex, which would capitalize on a waterfront location and seek to draw heavily from the New York market south to Manhattan.
Source: GMB / Courant.com
