By Josh Resnek
MGM will not be negotiating to buy the Everett casino.
The real question is, who will be next?
Over the weekend we learned that John Henry, the billionaire Red Sox owner with sports interests in England, was apparently another suitor who showed an interest to Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox recently.
Who else has Maddox spoken with about selling the place?
Maddox paid the fines owed by Wynn Resorts Tuesday afternoon. The place is now Wynn Resorts’ until they want to sell.
They’ve got the license now to hang on the wall. But the June 23 opening date might still be a question.
The Gaming Commission must sign off on a variety of regulatory concerns before June 23 for the place to open as scheduled.
Wynn Resorts reports that most of the 3100 slot machines and 143 table games and 88 poker tables have already been placed in the sprawling gaming area.
At the five star hotel next door, the 671 hotel rooms are done. They are furnished. There are enough new linens to sink a small barge, according to company officials.
Although the exact number is quite impossible to determine, thousands have been hired or extended job offers.
As many as 5,000 employees may be on the payroll when all is said and done.
Thousands are already receiving paychecks and working to make sure everything is just so when the doors finally open.
“I am amazed at the camaraderie and the esprit de corps,” said a North Shore resident who recently got a job at the casino just waiting in line at a job fair.
“Everyone talks with everyone else. Everyone is required to understand that five star facilities require five star services. It is something to see, that is, the extent to which Wynn Resorts goes toward earning its reputation. We are all being taught what we need to do for our patrons,” he added.
Observations such as those ennoble the effort now underway.
A drive by the complex reveals last minute roadwork and plantings are nearly complete, and what is not complete, is being worked on furiously. Santilli Circle has been streamlined. The roadwork there attempting to move traffic more efficiently will shortly be tested.
Casino and hotel employees are having to park off the campus and take transportation to the casino from Wellington Circle.
“It takes a while in the best of times,” said a new employee.
“What will it be like getting to and from our jobs when the traffic is backed up?”
That’s a major and daunting question for a host of officials all attempting to understand what is going to happen when the place opens.
What will the traffic be like? How will it effect employees and visitors to the casino and hotel?
What will the traffic be like and what amount of time will it take for an Uber or a taxi to pickup a fare at Logan Airport and get them to the Encore Hotel on an average traffic day?
“We will deal with the difficulties as they come to pass,” Everett Police Chief Steve Mazzie has said publicly on several occasions.
Indeed, it is impossible to know what the problems are going to be until they occur.
Hundreds of added details of police will be there during the opening phase to mitigate traffic concerns.
Security concerns are not as great.
The hotel and casino are wired with thousands of video cameras covering nearly the entire landscape of the project as well as its interior space.
Everyone is being watched in order to protect their safety.