Mayor: Revere casino in mix

REVERE – Mayor Thomas Ambrosino Thursday said two local racetrack owners will have to do “the necessary hard work” required to secure a state license for a Boston area casino.Ambrosino offered his thoughts on the evolving plans to bring casinos to Massachusetts Thursday, hours after Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a plan potentially pitting the owners of Suffolk Downs and Wonderland Greyhound Park against billionaire casino owner Shelden Adelson in their bid for a license.”I wouldn’t say the deck is stacked against anyone,” Ambrosino said.Patrick is seeking legislative approval to license up to three casino resorts in Massachusetts. He has proposed dividing the state into three licensing zones with Marlborough, the community where Adelson wants to build, included in the zone where Suffolk and Wonderland are located.Patrick says casinos will inject $2 billion into the Massachusetts economy and $400 million to $450 million into the state treasury, not to mention revenue for cities and towns.He spoke at length Thursday during a press conference about Native American interest in joining developers in building a casino, adding, “I don’t know what the impacts on the tracks will be. I expect investors for some of them to bid.”Suffolk Downs representatives confirmed that interest Thursday.”We are encouraged by the Governor’s filing of the gaming expansion legislation and feel that Suffolk Downs is the perfect site for the Governor’s vision for a resort-style destination in the Boston area,” said Suffolk chairman of the board Bill Mulrow.Wonderland President Richard Dalton discounted suggestion Adelson will be able to land a casino license on a Marlborough site. Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corporation owns the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino.”First of all, he doesn’t have any land out there. He is going to come into one of these communities and I don’t think he is going to have a warm reception. I think the focus of this is a competition between us and Suffolk Downs,” Dalton said.Dalton said Wonderland has “a 75 year history” as a good neighbor in Revere. State Sen. Thomas M. McGee said any plan for a Suffolk casino will have to include money for local communities and to counter potential traffic problems.”Substantial investment in infrastructure and mitigation money is needed to make Suffolk work,” he said. “That has to be a large part of any package or plan.”