Casinos: Chicopee asks for more time

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - The $400,000 casino application fee is due to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Tuesday by 5pm.  MGM in Springfield's South End, Penn National in Springfield's North End, Mohegan Sun in Palmer and Hard Rock in West Springfield have all applied in Western Massachusetts. 

The 22News I-Team discovered Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonette wrote a letter to the Massachusetts Gaming commission asking for an extension to this deadline.      

Cabotville in Chicopee Center, Chicopee River Business Park and a site near Westover are three sites developers have been looking at, but according to sources the Cabotville site is a preferred destination. 

"I am acutely aware that the City of Chicopee is not an actual applicant, and may be viewed as having no legal standing to do so. I have a different view. We are a municipality that is keenly intent on preserving and capturing our opportunity to work with a qualified developer to advance a spectacular site and economically transform our city," Bissonnette wrote in the letter.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will decide if this extension is ultimately allowed.

Tuesday's deadline is only for background checks on investors.  A casino developer who has paid and is linked to another site could move to another location, the actual site proposals are not due to the gaming commission until possibly June.