It is at the same time extraordinary and unbelievable how the Encore Casino and Hotel is now operating day to day without impacting the public safety or the well being of the citizens of Everett.
For such a huge project, with so many employees and moving parts, generating so much money and paying such enormous taxes, to have so little real impact on the day to day well being of the city runs against nearly everything many of us believed was going to happen when the doors opened during the last week of June.
The traffic mess so many anticipated – and this included Encore officials – has never materialized. Traffic may impact the city greatly in the future as the casino’s business base expands but right now, traffic is manageable.
Again, it is so unlikely an occurrence that so great a commercial development can co-exist in this crowded city with almost no visible impact.
Just last week, Everett received almost $1.5 million in grants and funding from money generated by the casino. One hundred ten thousand of that amount is going to the Everett Public Schools.
The city taking in free money grants like that in such large amounts is unheard of. Municipalities throughout this state are pressed for money. At this moment in time, everything about the casino and hotel are in their infancy.
There is no way to know how successful the project is ultimately going to be, except to say, we all get the very real feeling that it is going to be an unqualified success and very likely for years to come. Right now, all of us who are stakeholders in this city are pleased at the early returns regarding the Encore Casino and Hotel.
A veritable colossus has come to the city without trampling the rights of everyone living here.
Let’s hope that the future for the project is as smooth and well run as the present.
What could be better than this for the city?