[toc]Roughly one year from today, MGM Springfield Casino will open its doors to the public. According to recent reports that puts construction of the casino project on schedule, including the 3,400 space parking garage, which chould open with the casino proper.
As seen in the video below, the ambitious $1 billion casino project is beginning to take shape in the Western Massachusetts city of Springfield:
A peek inside the MGM Springfield Casino
Even though the $2.4 billion Wynn Boston Harbor will cost more than double what the MGM Springfield will, the MGM casino is going to be a major destination resort.
The property will feature:
- 3,000 slot machines and 100 table games
- A 250-room, four-star hotel
- A 3,375-space attached parking garage
- Eight restaurants, dining options, and bars
- 26,000 square feet of retail space
- Entertainment options including a bowling alley and cinema
- 54 residential units repurposed from existing historical buildings on the site
MGM’s location could draw visitors from all around
One of the big advantages for the MGM casino is its western Massachusetts location. It may not have the built-in population base Wynn’s Boston project possesses, but the Massachusetts casino does sit at the crossroads for drivers travelling to and from Boston, New York City, Hartford, and beyond.
Driving time from city:
- Hartford, Connecticut – 30 minutes
- New Haven, Connecticut – 1 hour
- Providence, Rhode Island – 1 hour and 30 minutes
- Boston, Massachusetts – 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Albany, New York – 1 hour and 30 minutes
- New York City, New York – 3 hours
Employment opportunities
When the doors open, the casino will employ some 3,000 people from an anticipated 125,000 applicants.
That’s on top of the roughly 2,000 construction jobs the project created.
These jobs are sorely needed in Springfield, which boasts one of the higher unemployment rates in Massachusetts at 6.9 percent. That’s nearly double the average in Massachusetts (3.9 percent), and more than double Boston’s unemployment rate of 3.3 percent.
Among the staffing needs at the MGM Springfield are:
- 600 dealers and croupiers for blackjack, poker, and other games
- 80 cashiers to work the casino cages
- A 200-person strong security team
- 150 culinary artists for the properties numerous dining venues
