Commission OK's more casino mitigation money, but the well may be running dry

Yahoo

19-06-2025

SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission approved $3.1 million in new Community Mitigation Fund grants for Western Massachusetts Tuesday.
The awards followed $3.2 million in community mitigation funds it approved May 27.
But this might be the last time the commission distributes this much funding to the region.
Versions of next year's state budget making their way through Beacon Hill call for the elimination of the fund, folding it into the state's general coffers.
At Tuesday's meeting, Joseph Delaney, chief of the commission's Division of Community Affairs, said the commission currently has enough money collected from casinos to fund the $22 million to $23 million worth of grant requests it has received.
But next year, Delaney expects the available funds will plummet to a quarter of that — between $5 million to $6 million — under a new state budget as the fund sunsets.
The 2011 law that established legal casinos called for 6.5% of gaming tax revenue to go toward mitigating the effect of a casino in the surrounding community, addressing problem gambling, public safety and economic disparities, for instance.
The list commissioners approved Tuesday includes $2.9 million for the city of Springfield. Among the projects, the commission gave $250,000 toward the possible adaptive reuse of Old First Church into a regional events and visitor center.
Old First Church, built in 1810 and city-owned since 2008, is on Court Square park, which is now undergoing a rehabilitation project with new sidewalks and lighting.
'Now it's the piece of the puzzle there,' Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said in a phone interview.
The building hosted statesman Daniel Webster and abolitionist John Brown. Former President John Quincy Adams laid in state there.
'This is not only a historic site for Springfield,' Sarno said. 'It's a historic site of the nation.'
Timothy T. Sheehan, the city's chief development officer, said there is roughly $5 million worth of maintenance, including roofing and drainage, the city needs to complete on the building. That work will be funded by other means.
Springfield also received funding for sidewalk and street improvements near the South Main Street redevelopment project, aka the Clock Tower Building, creating an area friendly for pedestrians. Funds also went towards traffic management and public safety.
The Gaming Commission also unanimously approved $400,000 to offset rent for the Hampden County Sheriff Department's addiction treatment facility on Mill Street, the Western Massachusetts Recovery and Wellness Center.
Despite voting in favor of the award, Commissioner Eileen O'Brien reiterated her concerns that the treatment center is not sufficiently connected with MGM Springfield.
She praised the work done at the facility, however, referencing a tour Sheriff Nick Cocchi led in May 2024 for the Gaming Commission.
Cocchi expressed gratitude in an emailed statement Tuesday
'When they toured the facility last year, we had a productive dialogue, and they saw firsthand the impact our approach to treatment can have on someone's life,' Cocchi said in the statement. 'With nearly 90% of the justice-involved individuals in our care reporting some level of substance use disorder, addiction treatment is truly central to our mission—and this facility is more important than ever.'
Then-Sheriff Michael Ashe under former Gov. Michael Dukakis established the center in 1985 at the old YWCA building on Howard Street in the South End.
But the Howard Street building was in the way of the casino's construction, so the Sheriff's facility moved, eventually renting a location on Mill Street.
'We're looking at 10 years out from when they had to relocate,' O'Brien said.
The Mill Street building costs $1.1 million a year to lease, according to the Sheriff's grant application.
Also Tuesday, the Gaming Commission voted to approve $294,000 in casino mitigation money for Holyoke. The money will fund the Puerto Rican Cultural District, promotional efforts and street improvements. There are funds for anti-gambling efforts and a shuttle bus, and the ValleyBike Share program among other projects.
In Longmeadow, the commission approved $292,000 for public safety, police and fire gear, and a street-and-sidewalk project on Lynnwood Drive.
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Read the original article on MassLive.