Trump has eyes on Wonderland for casino

REVERE – “The Donald” might consider building a casino at Wonderland Greyhound Park, but don’t expect Revere Beach to become Atlantic City North any time soon.Wonderland’s owners hope to make the track one of three sites for resort casinos proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick or expand it into a slot machine venue. Reduced racing dates have brought the track to the brink of economic extinction, but Wonderland owners are hopeful preliminary talks with Donald Trump will breathe new life into the track.”Obviously, we want to be positioned with a major gaming company as a partner. Donald Trump fits that bill nicely,” said Wonderland President Richard Dalton.Suffolk Board Chairman Bill Mulrow earlier this year called the track “the perfect site for the governor’s vision for a resort-style destination in the Boston area.”If Trump does decide to go forward at Wonderland, he could be pitted against former business partner-turned-rival Richard Fields, who is the majority shareholder in the Suffolk Downs horseracing track in East Boston.Dalton said the two tracks “have yet to reach a satisfactory agreement” pairing their interest in hosting a casino. State Rep. Robert DeLeo last week said Wonderland’s exclusion from any plan to bring casinos into Massachusetts will sound a “death knell” for the track.”We have a fiscal problem we have to address now. Slots could be up and running quickly,” Dalton said.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.The Legislature plans to begin debating Patrick’s proposal during the winter.Wonderland and Suffolk have their work cut out for them when it comes to landing a Boston area casino. Billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson wants to build a casino in Marlborough. The city and Boston are both located in one of the three zones Patrick has designated for development of a single casino.Legislative approval of Patrick’s plan is not guaranteed. House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi declared racetracks “a dying industry” last year before the House voted down plans to put 2,000 slots in four Massachusetts tracks, including local ones.State Senate support for casinos is more defined than it is in the House but veteran senators like Lynn’s Thomas M. McGee have concerns about basing a resort casino at Suffolk Downs, not to mention one straddling both local tracks.”A substantial investment in infrastructure and mitigation money will be needed to make Suffolk work. That has to be a large part of any package or plan,” McGee said.The City Council wants to know what impact bringing a casino to the tracks will have on local traffic. Mayor Thomas Ambrosino in October said “it is safe to assume” track owners will pay for a traffic study before they obtain a casino license.