Foxborough Selectmen Chair Larry Harrington said that the local board “plans to discuss whether it would be wise to begin studying the potential effects of a gambling resort in town, in anticipation of a formal proposal coming from Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn,” according to Arsenault & Bolton of the BOSTON GLOBE. A selectmen’s meeting on the matter “had been scheduled for Tuesday at the high school but the facility will not be available.” No new date has been set. The board’s return to the casino issue “was inspired by a lengthy open letter by Foxborough resident Marc Todd, the chief executive of a Mansfield technology company.” Todd in the letter “urged the board to appoint a team to determine the effects of a casino and to negotiate compensation from Wynn,” who wants to build a casino resort near Gillette Stadium on land owned by Patriots Owner Robert Kraft. Casino opponents insisted that the board “should do nothing on the casino issue until after the town election on May 7” (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/15). In Boston, Jerry Kronenberg writes Wynn is “doctoring up his bid to build a $1 billion Foxboro casino.” Wynn is “offering to turn a Foxboro urgent-care facility into a 24/7 ‘hospital’ if that helps win local approval for the deal.” He said he has “had some conversations” with facility owner Brigham and Women’s Hospital about expanding the site’s operations (BOSTON HERALD, 3/15).
PLAYING THE ODDS: Stittsville (Ontario) Councillor Shad Qadri said that Scotiabank Place is “an ideal place for a new Ottawa casino.” Qadri “claims the backing” of the Senators for the idea. In Ottawa, David Reevely notes the idea was “proposed earlier this week by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., which said its plan is to ask the private sector to bid for the rights to run a casino” (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 3/15).
