MGM Grand Casino Now Open In Springfield

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Heading to Springfield this Saturday. Excited to see what it's all about, never been. Will post some impressions if I feel like I see enough.

Main Street has a fairly intact row of older commercial buildings between State Street and the railroad arch. Court Square is a very nice urban space with Springfield’s municipal group (two Roman temple-fronted structures with an Italian-esque “campanile” between them) and the old Congregational church on the green. There are good bones but the side streets are pretty empty now with way too many parking lots. The MGM complex is just south of Court Sq. Forest Park is a really nice and big landscape park on the southern border with Longmeadow. The Forest Park neighborhood either side of Sumner Ave especially near Longhill Street is worth seeing for its generous Victorian period houses that cost a fraction of what they would around Boston. One or two similar neighborhoods elsewhere in the city. Mattoon St is a nice little slice of South End style bow front rowhouses. The railroad station is all restored after 50 years of decrepitude, incorporates the bus station for the first time, and offers amped up service south to Hartford and New Haven but still only one Amtrak run a day to Worcester and Boston, which is a through train to Chicago. See whether the glass is half empty or half full.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Was at a get together in Agawam last night and asked about the new casino. One person had been twice--she won the first time, lost the second time. Didn't seem that excited about it though. The consensus was that it was small and no comparison to the huge CT casinos because there isn't room for it to be that huge.

But other comments were about cleaning up the city for the first time in a long time and people were optimistic about that. People liked the parking garage. They were talking about the movie theater and that business at Red Rose seems to be booming.

Of course in other news, there was a serious stabbing inside the casino. Got to give credit to a nail salon employee for getting the license plate number so that he could be found. Springfield has to get rid of these undesirable types or people will be afraid to go there.

https://www.masslive.com/news/index....d_assault.html

It actually wasn't a stabbing. Initial reporting was a bit confusing but this was shot foot. Unlike usual crimes in Springfield they gave this one an extremely high bail of about $100,000. As bad as it was it wasn't nearly as bad as say the usual shooting where nobody says anything but yet everybody saw it happen. There was enough surveillance to get the license plate which they are able to contact the owner of the vehicle and then get another address and was found there two hours later. Why he didn't just get on I-91 and go to Connecticut or Vermont is beyond me. Back in the day of say the eighties and nineties when there's a reasonable amount of doubt I could be issued criminals could get away with a fair amount. But now with cameras and GPS and DNA not really.

https://www.masslive.com/news/index....m_assault.html

Maybe he had steel toe boots but that's hard to say. But there was no gun or knife. Reporting confused his record with the current. No to belittle what happened but half a million people in a 2.5 week span of time is bound to have something eventually. To suggest it is relative to the area would be like averaging the big e volume into west Springfield.

If anyone want to come down next week cruise might and white Lion Wednesday have another week for to the rain.

[mdovell]

It looks like they plan to use the Armory as a comedy club starting in January. Not a bad idea especially in the winter. One comedian every month for a few nights. Food can come in from the Taps bar. Probably tries to schedule around NFL playoffs/superbowl. I'd assume they are aiming to compete against Funnybone and since Hu Ke Lo closed. Again this competes with symphony hall and city stage as a small venue. City Block concerts have come back and again it's at the plaza not court square.

[bjimmy24]

Well I went to Springfield on Saturday for the first time. Ended up spending a lot of time at the Big E. It was a good time, had a ton of food, met some friendly folks at the various bar spots. Was fun to watch the cows and horses strutting their stuff. It was really hot though and by the end I felt like I was going to pass out. It was really hard to find a place to get water. I stopped by a couple of the bars and asked for just a glass of water- they didn't have any! What???

But anyway, we went from there to downtown to go to MGM. I'm not a huge gambler and don't spend much time in casinos, but this was pretty nice. Had a good time there, turned $15 into $105! Took my winnings to the Red Rose across the street and had some pretty good pizza. I thought a lot of the architecture downtown was pretty cool, especially the armory there. There were kinda a lot of people out and about, I'm guessing mostly going to the casino? It seemed like for the number of people around, there wasn't enough restaurants or bars in the area. Perhaps this is just an influx of people curious to see the casino?

Didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted in the actual city but left with a good impression. Hopefully can make it back.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Well I went to Springfield on Saturday for the first time. Ended up spending a lot of time at the Big E. It was a good time, had a ton of food, met some friendly folks at the various bar spots. Was fun to watch the cows and horses strutting their stuff. It was really hot though and by the end I felt like I was going to pass out. It was really hard to find a place to get water. I stopped by a couple of the bars and asked for just a glass of water- they didn't have any! What???

But anyway, we went from there to downtown to go to MGM. I'm not a huge gambler and don't spend much time in casinos, but this was pretty nice. Had a good time there, turned $15 into $105! Took my winnings to the Red Rose across the street and had some pretty good pizza. I thought a lot of the architecture downtown was pretty cool, especially the armory there. There were kinda a lot of people out and about, I'm guessing mostly going to the casino? It seemed like for the number of people around, there wasn't enough restaurants or bars in the area. Perhaps this is just an influx of people curious to see the casino?

Didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted in the actual city but left with a good impression. Hopefully can make it back.

The Big E and the casino are the only things that bring people to Springfield. Go again after the Big E and the place will probably look deserted.

[Bettafish]

I have not been there but I went to Mohegan Sun last Saturday. They now have MANY $10 minimum tables for blackjack. Most of the $25 tables changed to $10.

Also, pay rate for a blackjack became 6:5, not 3:2 any more. The dealer hits on soft 17, not stays. I had not been there for months and was surprised.

There seem to be fewer Asians than before. Many young boys who had no clue.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

Not to mention Worecters biggest problem is entertainment there are lots of people that live/work in Worcester but go elsewhere (Prov, Boston even Lowell) for entertainment it has a Boring reputation even though it has the best economy of mid sized New England cities.

What to do in Lowell? I thought it has nothing to offer.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by Dm84

The Big E and the casino are the only things that bring people to Springfield. Go again after the Big E and the place will probably look deserted.

As I mentioned there's events that happen and MGM gives more lighting, security and better amenities. The Big E is the fairgrounds and there's events even after the regional state fair. There's also Six Flags, the museums, NBA Hall of Fame, the Speaker series, pancake breakfast, bright nights, various parades, the riverwalk etc.I'm not saying everything is finished but the bulk is. If there's one thing I've learned in the area is if you just put on light music, lighting, craft beer/wine people turn out for nearly anything. Beer fests, white lion Wednesdays, cocktails and cultures at the museums etc Then make it easy to get to and cheap to operate and there you go. I think the formula can work in most other gateway cities as well. For sports there's AHL ice hockey and ABA basketball. All things being said there's a fair amount here. Is it on the scale of Boston? No of course not as that's at last 4x the size. Union station has a new platform in a few months and CTrail is working at least partially on a second line. Combining that means more rail service.

[IWLC]

Originally Posted by Dm84

The Big E and the casino are the only things that bring people to Springfield. Go again after the Big E and the place will probably look deserted.

Once hockey season starts there are a lot of people on the street before and after the games. Same thing with the shows being booked into the MMC. I think most people would agree that the casino has been a catalyst for many things downtown, but it's only been open for a month. Were people expecting that within a month, suddenly all the vacant storefronts would be filled? One thing Springfield is famous for is negativity. I suspect most of the naysayers haven't been downtown in a decade. They sit in suburbia criticizing.


The Big E fairgrounds hosts dozens of other major events. The model train show is the biggest in the Northeast. The numerous horse shows and dog shows are considered major events in that world, The firearms, hunting and camping shows are all major events as is the Gem and mineral Show and woodworking show. The old Deerfield Crafts show brings people from all over the northeast. Actually, go to any even at the fairgrounds and you'll see license plates from all over the country. The bottom line is that if you can't find something that interests you in this area, you don't have many interests. I do wish some of the events that are at the fairgrounds were in the MMC though.


https://www.easternstatesexposition.com/events



That hotels continue to be built shows how many people come into our area. They don't build hotels without a demand for rooms. I bet if you made a list of all the events that are put on between Springfield and the Eastern States grounds, it would be staggering - easily rivaling any other city of it's size in the country.