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On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said Wynn Resorts was able to run a casino in Massachusetts after 15 months of investigation and deliberation over how the company handled the charges of misconduct. brought against its founder and former CEO, Steve Wynn.
Investigators found that some former leaders had concealed the charges against Wynn, who is now 77 years old. He denied having assaulted a woman.
State supervisors also concluded that all current senior officials of the company were fit to fill these positions, including CEO Matt Maddox, who faced tough questions from commission members at a hearing three days in April.
Commissioners were deeply troubled by "the repeated systemic failures and ubiquitous culture of non-disclosure" within the company, but they acknowledged that changes occurred within Wynn Resorts during the course of the year. 39, last year "demonstrate a new commitment and focus on all levels of employees, which, combined with the ongoing successful business operations, continue to demonstrate that Wynn [Resorts] is likely to be a successful trader in Everett. "
The commission fined the company $ 35 million and Maddox $ 500,000. The company has not yet decided whether it will appeal to the Superior Court. "We are reviewing the decision and considering the full range of our next steps," said Wynn Resorts in a statement.
Attorney General Maura Healey said the penalty was not severe enough. "Although this is the decision of the Gaming Commission, I am disappointed that the penalties and conditions imposed on Wynn are not harsher to hold this company responsible for hiding the truth from the public and the state. . "
The mayor of Everett, Carlo DeMaria, said he was very pleased that the company is keeping its casino license. Since arriving in Everett, Wynn Resorts has endorsed the idea that the Lower Broadway area could be turned into a business and entertainment district, he said.
"It was not a complex, it was the vision of a sector to redevelop," he said. "I'm happy Matt [Maddox] is still here because Matt shared this vision. "
The company has purchased land around the casino site for future development and is working with the city on a number of transportation proposals, including a pedestrian bridge over the Mystic River to the assembly line's orange line, and than the potential of the Silver Line and the commuter train. he stops, says DeMaria.
"They have kept all the promises they have made so far," he said.
Everett's station is about 96% complete, according to Peter Campot, Project Manager. About 800 construction workers are working on the site – after a peak of more than 1,800 – and are currently working on final touches, such as the final installation of the carpet, stone and tile work, planting and planting. exterior landscaping and perforation articles.
It's a big building and the easiest way to understand it is to create sections. The north end of the property, the farthest from the Mystic River, is the back house that guests never see. It includes the employee dining room, as well as the machines and service areas needed to run a large hotel. About 200 to 300 Wynn Resorts employees are now actively working in this part of the building, said Robert DeSalvio, President of Encore.
Moving south along the property is the casino floor. It is a massive space with a high ceiling, surrounded by a balcony and a mezzanine and lit by clusters of red glass chandeliers. Almost all the 3,100 slot machines planned were installed, said DeSalvio. The game room is divided into two extended extensions at the mezzanine level – one will be used for high-limit table games and slot machines, the other as the casino's poker room. A nightclub and a sports bar on the mezzanine will overlook the casino.
Next is the hotel lobby, where a large glass wall faces the Mystic River and Boston rooftops. The company plans to create a large garden of flowers and trees in the center of the hall. Two curved escalators connect to the lobby bar and another restaurant on the mezzanine. In total, the resort will have 15 bars and restaurants, including a buffet.
The centerpiece of the station, a Jeff Koons' Popeye sculpture purchased for $ 28 million in 2014, is expected to arrive in early June. It was posted at Wynn Las Vegas. The company originally planned that the sculpture be between the escalators in the lobby. Instead, it will be installed in a roundhouse of corridors nearby, where it will be easier for customers to photograph and pose with, says DeSalvio. The space between the escalators will be occupied by an enamelled ceramic urn from the artist Viola Frey, the company announced.
The complex's meeting and convention space extends along the peninsula stretching from the casino site to the Mystic River, to the casino's main ballroom.
The hotel has 671 rooms and suites, and the prices are, shall we say, robust. The company's website lists prices ranging from $ 645 for a "first king" room to $ 5,000 for a "three-bedroom" residence of 3,350 square feet.
The eight-year road leading to a casino in the Boston area was a long and strange trip.
Massachusetts legalized casino games in 2011 by creating a license for a slot machine room and a casino license for casinos in three regions: Western Mass, Greater Boston and the Southeast. At first, most casino developers moved away from Greater Boston, assuming that Suffolk Downs on the East Boston-Revere line and its casino partner, Caesars Entertainment, had blocked the Massachusetts East license.
Wynn Resorts challenged this assumption, placing a casino in Foxborough, and then retreating in the face of fierce opposition from the community. In its second test, Wynn Resorts tried Everett, where 86% of voters in the city signed up for the Mystic River Resort project, located on the site of a former chemical plant, in a referendum held in Toronto. 2013.
The contest for the license has the form of a titans clash of Las Vegas – Wynn vs. Resorts. Caesars. But this battle never came to fruition after state investigators lifted the red flags during the Caesars background check and the company left the project. As a result of this startling news, Suffolk Downs lost its community referendum in East Boston. The project proponents then revised the plan to fully integrate it on the Revere side of the racetrack property and then a new partner, Mohegan Sun.
Wynn Resorts had its own problems. In 2013, questions were raised about whether a former criminal had a secret interest in the field that the company had chosen for his casino. The gaming commission allowed the project to move forward after Wynn Resorts lowered the purchase price of the land to the estimated market value in order to remove the benefits of selling to a wealthy casino company. Three of the former landowners were charged but eventually acquitted.
Wynn Resorts won the license in 2014.
You can contact Mark Arsenault at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @bostonglobemark
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