Seven years ago on a cold November afternoon, Steve Wynn came to Everett at the invitation of Mayor Carlo DeMaria to look at a possible site for a casino. The land was an old industrial site on the Mystic River that was classified as a Brownfield.
Many elected officials and residents thought that DeMaria was naïve about having a casino in Everett since he was going against a competing casino in Revere and East Boston that was heavily favored by many area politicians.
However, DeMaria never took his eyes off the goal of having a world-class casino in Everett. He worked with the Everett United committee in helping get the 86 percent voter approval for the casino. He testified before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in support of the casino in Everett rather than Revere. His team at City Hall was always ready to help the developers of the casino comply with the different City ordinances.
Over the next seven years, every construction or corporate hiccup that happened concerning the casino, naysayers were the first to ridicule DeMaria, saying that the casino would never happen in Everett. Even as recently as four weeks ago these naysayers were still saying that MGM would buy the casino in Everett or that it was a sure bet that the license would be pulled by the Gaming Commission.
Sunday proved these naysayers wrong again, and DeMaria right, as the casino officially opened on a perfect summer’s day at 10 a.m.
This casino is probably the greatest single development in the history of Everett, and there is just one man who had the vision and determination to get this project to completion for the residents and taxpayers of Everett and that man is DeMaria.
Some of the benefits that DeMaria fought for that this project will bring to the city of Everett are:
•Good paying jobs for 700 residents
•Greater access to the waterfront
•A great corporate neighbor
•And more than $30 million annually for the city tax coffers to use for parks, police, infrastructure repair, firefighters and schools to mention just a few.
While many people would be content to sit back and celebrate the completion of the casino, DeMaria is wasting no time in now setting his sights on improving transportation in Everett.
We feel it is appropriate to say thank you to Mayor DeMaria for his vision and work on this casino that will make Everett one of the premier communities in Massachusetts.