Kennedy joining talk about shifting casino plan

LYNN – Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy joins the conversation on reorienting a proposed Suffolk Downs casino to Revere today, even as track executives and Revere’s mayor push to make the project’s new focus possible.Kennedy outlined in a letter a month ago how a Suffolk casino will help and hurt Lynn. On Thursday she said her interest in Suffolk’s plan has not faded with last Tuesday’s East Boston vote rejecting a casino.”I’m meeting with Mayor (Daniel) Rizzo and (Suffolk Chief Executive) Chip Tuttle. I will have an update after that,” she said.Revere voters approved the Suffolk plan in a separate vote.Suffolk’s $1 billion plan to build a gambling complex around the racetrack and hire 4,000 workers faces competition for a state casino license from casino proposals in Everett and Milford. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission plans to award up to three licenses across the state by next April.With that timetable in mind, Rizzo and Suffolk Chairman William Mulrow urged the gambling commission in separate letters Wednesday to – in Rizzo’s words – “keep the voice of our city’s voters in mind.””A first-class gaming establishment at Suffolk Downs will bring needed economic development opportunities, municipal revenue and employment to thousands of local families,” Rizzo wrote.Suffolk has until Dec. 31 to submit a final application to the commission and Mulrow noted in his letter that the 52 acres Suffolk owns in Revere provide land for a larger site than the locations proposed for the Everett and Milford casinos.Mulrow said Suffolk has already conducted the traffic, environmental and economic development studies necessary to make a case on the track’s behalf for a Revere casino.”We hope to bring those plans to fruition by the end of this month,” he wrote.State law requires casino license applicants to negotiate with communities bordering the city or town where the applicant wants to build a gambling complex. Kennedy has said a Suffolk casino could influence development on Lynn’s waterfront, and she asked Suffolk executives in an Oct. 15 letter to designate Lynn as a “surrounding community” – a starting point for discussing how a Revere casino “…might impact transportation in and around …Lynn.”If Suffolk gets approval to build in Revere, then the impact of a casino on Lynn increases, said state Rep. Steven Walsh.”Suffolk could move an eighth of a mile and Lynn’s influence would increase extraordinarily,” Walsh said.Walsh and state Sen. Thomas M. McGee said it is premature to weigh the impact of a casino in Revere on Lynn until the commission makes its licensing decision. Rizzo this week said he is “cautiously optimistic” a retooled Suffolk casino plan can win a state license.”I recognize that the vote lost in East Boston but I also recognize the thousands of votes for it,” he said.He said the racetrack is losing money every month and without the addition of a casino, Suffolk “is probably in for a tough fight in terms of keeping the door open.””We’re trying to play the hand we’re dealt,” Rizzo said.