Casino developers may be on hook for $47M Wonderland garage

REVERE – Developers eying the Wonderland Greyhound Park site as a possible casino location received a financial shot across the bow Tuesday from a top aide to Gov. Deval Patrick.Economic Development Secretary Gregory Bialecki strongly hinted that the state may seek reimbursement for public funds spent on infrastructure upgrades that may eventually benefit casinos – like the $47 million parking garage currently slated to be built at the Wonderland MBTA station.When asked about combined state and federal stimulus funds being used to construct the 1,900-space garage, Bialecki said, “I haven’t thought about that yet and I think that that’s? obviously we’re going to address the issue in a consistent manner. So if there are other public infrastructure improvements that are under way that are directly benefiting some of the other locations, we’ll have to take a look as well.”Bialecki noted that he was unfamiliar with the details of the Wonderland-Suffolk plan, a joint venture to build a casino in House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s 19th Suffolk House district.The prospect of reimbursing public coffers for $47 million in expenditures would likely slice into the allure of the Wonderland-Suffolk site, representing nearly 10 percent of the minimum amount DeLeo’s gambling bill requires developers to invest in a facility.One of DeLeo’s top deputies in the House, Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere, said she would be surprised if the administration sought reimbursement from casino developers and called the Wonderland garage a vital piece of a broader vision for the city that was not contingent on gambling.”That was all based on an economic development proposal and plan that the city’s been working on for well over a decade,” she said.Reinstein said she had been asking since January for a meeting with Patrick over gambling and not been granted one.Chip Tuttle, CEO of Suffolk Downs, said, “Our partnership with Wonderland anticipates gaming development would be done at the Suffolk Downs property, not at Wonderland.”The Revere parking garage was announced in December at a press conference featuring Patrick, DeLeo, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey and locally elected officials. Patrick called it a project that would “create jobs for today and tomorrow and bring long-term economic benefits to the city of Revere.”The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board in December authorized the award of $22.7 million in federal ARRA grant funding and $11.3 million in MBTA bond revenue financing toward the project, which will bankroll the garage project.The plan also draws on federal surface transportation earmarks and a $10 million state grant to Revere. Administration officials said that parking revenues would likely net additional revenues that would more than compensate for the T’s borrowing.State House News Service material was used in this report.