Story by Seth Daniel- Revere Journal

A development team has proposed putting a 12-story, 200-room hotel – dubbed preliminarily as the Ballroom Hotel – on the current site of the Wonderland Ballroom.

Attorney Gerry D’Ambrosio said the proposal is in the very early stages, and the development team is still not being identified publicly.

Other sources indicated that the team was based out of Newton

“It’s in the early stages right now, but they’re making a lot of progress,” said D’Ambrosio. “The potential is for a 12-story structure just a little under 200 rooms with an attached garage. The attached garage is about seven floors. It’s definitely early on and the renditions speak to the potential of the site…They’re putting their money where their mouth is. They’re spending a lot of money to do the plans and to bring this all to fruition. If a casino comes in, that makes it all the better.

“It really is the perfect location,” he continued. “It’s on the ocean. It’s right on a highway. There’s a T stop. Hopefully it will also service a local casino. There’s a lot of promise here.”

The current ballroom, in the plan, would be demolished.

D’Ambrosio said the City has been excellent to work with so far – especially given that the site falls within the Wonderland Transit Oriented Development zone, qualifying it for expedited zoning and permitting.

“It’s been great working with the Mayor’s Office,” he said. “Developers really love to hear that the community and the Mayor’s Office is willing to work with them. It’s always good when the community realizes where development potential is and is willing to accommodate it.”

Ward 5 Councillor John Powers said he had been apprised of the proposal and supports it 100 percent.

“I’ve always been supportive of hotels,” he said. “The traffic is intermittent. We don’t pick up their trash. They don’t have kids that will go to the schools. They provide construction jobs and, after construction, permanent jobs for local residents. Hotels are a win-win for the City. I’m 100 percent for it.”

Right now, D’Ambrosio said they are working with the MBTA to secure easements, as access to the hotel would require travelling over T property.

“The Wonderland Ballroom goes from lot line to lot line and some egresses involve going over T property,” he said. “ We’re in discussion on that now.”

He said they are now working on the architecture, engineering, traffic studies and parking requirements.

As for a new ballroom, he said it’s still too early to tell.

“I guess that’s still up in the air,” he said. “It really comes down to the final determinations and we’re not there yet.”

Story by: Seth Daniel- www.reverejournal.com

Plovers are back once again at Revere Beach -Journal Staff

The lumberjacks of the West Coast have the spotted owls and the residents in Capistrano have the Flamingos.

In Revere, we now have the annual return of the Piping Plovers and their expanding nesting area at Revere Beach.

Every year there seems more of the Beach is fenced off and beach goers are forbidden from entering the nesting area.

Now, we are all in favor of helping endangered species get off that list.  And the Piping Plovers are on this list.

So our advice to beach goers who will be seeking some relief from the heat waves of the summer — get ready to do some extra walking to get to the water.

And as upsetting as this may be as one walks like a pack mule with chairs and towels and toys for children – just remember that you are doing your part in restoring the ecosystem that has been brought to the brink of destruction by mankind’s actions.

Revere Journal Staff  - www.reverejournal.com

Suffolk Downs unveiled the 3D model for the proposed resort casino complex yesterday, put on display in the Topsider Room of the present race tract in East Boston.  

Suffolk Downs unveiled a 3-D model Wednesday of its $1 billion casino proposal. The model will be available for public viewing in April.

Partnered with Caesars Entertainment, Suffolk Downs 161-acre project would have two hotels with approximately 450 rooms, entertainment spaces and nightclubs, and up to 10 restaurants. The casino would have about 200,000-square-feet of gambling space with 4,000 to 4,200 slot machines and 175 gaming tables.

Wynn Resorts Development in Everett, a competing proposal for the one gaming licence in Greater Boston, also released a rendering of its project Wednesday.

Special Olympics Massachusetts hosted its annual Polar Plunge on Feb. 23 with simultaneous events at Revere and Nantasket beaches. Special Olympics Massachusetts said the plunges are the biggest fundraiser for the organization, raising almost 10 percent of its revenue.

Pictured at the Revere Beach Plunge is Michael Forte, who was a costume contest favorite. Forte, a first-time plunger, said he would definitely continue to participate in the event.

See more images here:   http://www.boston.com/yourtown/revere/2013/02/23/revere-polar-plunge-benefit-special-olympics-massachusetts/odHBLrIWCeYjWs15Fr6smO/story.html

But he and his partner Dung Doan soon realized they weren’t rocks, but surf clams – tens of thousands of dead ones left behind in Nemo’s fierce wake. Doan then walked 3.5 miles of the beach taking pictures – and the clams were littered across that entire expanse.

“It was devastating for me to see it, there didn’t seem to be an inch of the beach that wasn’t covered with them,” said Burns on Monday. “And for some reason or another the seagulls would not eat them. We’ve never seen anything like it.”

Revere beachcombers probably haven’t – but beaches in the region have experienced similar deposits of marine life from storms, state officials say.

Paul Diodati, Director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said the surf clams (often used in clam chowder or in fried clam strips) were thrown onto the beach by waves that disturbed the shellfish as they buried in shallow sandy areas.

He said it was a shame to see, but the surf clam population will quickly recover.

Anyone else finding lots of sea life on the beach from the storm?

- Beth Daley
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2013/02/_photo_by_gordon_k.html

Revere and Everett are now the battleground in a competition between two Las Vegas titans for the sole resort casino license available in Eastern Massachusetts. 

DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF/FILE

REVERE About one-quarter of the Suffolk Downs property (top and to right of track) is in Revere, and includes part of the track, parking lots, and a 25-acre barn area.

Caesars Entertainment, owner of the famed Caesars Palace, has joined withSuffolk Downs in proposing a $1 billion resort for the 161-acre racetrack site on the Revere/East Boston line.

Wynn Resorts, whose founder built the epic Mirage on the Vegas strip, has an option to buy a 37-acre parcel in Everett to build its own billion-dollar resort on the Mystic River.

Developers have until Tuesday to submit an application for a 15-year license, accompanied by a $400,000 nonrefundable fee, to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

The five-member panel can award up to three licenses in the Bay State, but only one is available in the lucrative Greater Boston market.

Residents of the two blue-collar cities will get to decide in a local referendum whether they want a casino development in their community.

“I will campaign against it,” said Evmorphia Stratis, 60, an artist who lives near Everett Square. “Casinos have a very negative effect on a community. Why aren’t they trying to get a high-tech or alternative-energy company on that site?”

“I support it basically for our tax base,” said William Frederick, 61, a retired postal employee who owns two homes in Everett. “If Steve Wynn moves in here, I know we’re going to get a whole chunk of money.”

Revere residents seem equally at odds about the value of a casino in their city.

“If it goes in at Suffolk Downs, we’ll probably move,” said Gail O’Brien, 63, a 40-year homeowner in Beachmont, the Revere neighborhood where part of Suffolk Downs is located. “I don’t want to deal with the traffic, or the types of people who follow a casino.”

“I think it’s good for the community,” said Francisco ­Lizardo, 60, who moved to Revere two years ago from East Boston. “It’s going to bring a lot of work. You need that in these times.”

In a recent address to the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Stephen Crosby, chairman of the gaming commission, made it clear that a casino would not be forced on either city.

“There will not be a casino in any community that does not want one,” Crosby said.

Meanwhile, those with high stakes in the turf war continue to make their arguments.

“We always anticipated there would be competition for this license,” said Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer at Suffolk Downs. “We’ve always known that in order to earn the license, we’re going to have to [submit] a proposal that sets the standard for gaming development in Massachusetts.”

In an interview, Wynn said he plans to build a hotel tower, with 300 to 500 rooms. Upscale shops, restaurants, a spa, and meeting space will be included, he said.

“It will be a first-class, high-rise hotel,” Wynn said, speaking by phone from his home in Sun Valley, Idaho. “We have the experience and capital to build it. I want it to become one of the top hotels in the Boston area.”

Wynn first proposed teaming with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to build a casino across Route 1 from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, but he withdrew the proposal amid fierce community opposition.

But Everett so far has welcomed him, Wynn said.

DAVID L RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

David Manfredi, a Boston architect, talked about plans for a casino project at Suffolk Downs last April.

“I sort of felt, after Foxborough, that it would be an uphill battle to find another [community]. But the feeling we got from Everett is that they have a real strong desire for us to go there.”

The casino mogul is no stranger to the North Shore. His father, Michael Wynn, grew up with a foster family in Revere. His mother, Selma Cutner, grew up in a four-family home at 11 Dana St.

“I used to play stickball in the street,” recalled Wynn, 70. “I’d go swimming at Revere Beach with my grandmother. The water was cold. I loved playing in the arcades and all the rides.”

Wynn, who said he still has family in Revere, said he isn’t miffed that rival Caesars is bidding for a casino there. “Nah,” he said. “I know them all over at Caesars. They’re friends of mine.”

It could take up to a year for the gaming commission to decide which casino operator wins the license, and only after each negotiates a financial package with its host communities — including Revere or Everett — to mitigate the impact of a massive new development.

The state’s nascent casino industry is flush with opportunities. Each development is expected to create 2,500 construction jobs and 4,000 permanent ones, according to state estimates.

Along with a hotel, shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and a 24-hour casino, horse racing would continue at Suffolk Downs. The Wynn group is interested in tapping into the convention market.

Along with millions of dollars in taxes and other new revenues, a resort casino would bring sizzle and spark to a couple of down-on-their-luck cities, supporters say.

“This really [could be] a game-changer for the city of Revere,” said Mayor Dan Rizzo, a longtime proponent of expanded gambling in his city.

“He’s talking 3,000 to 5,000 jobs,” Everett Mayor Carlo ­DeMaria Jr. said in an interview last week at City Hall. “Wynn would be the biggest employer in the city.”

Taxes and other revenue sources, such as municipal fees, could top $35 million, DeMaria added.

DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF/FILE

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. and Steve Wynn were among those touring the proposed casino site in November.

“You’re talking $25 million or so in [property] taxes, $10 million or so in hotel and sales taxes,” DeMaria said. “We don’t have anyone now that gives us that money.”

But one economist is skeptical that a resort casino would bring a municipal payday.

“A lot of profits generated by casinos leave a region,” said Paul Harrington, director of the Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University in Philadelphia. “They go back to where the business is based.”

Job opportunities also can be disappointing, he noted.

“The employment impact can be small,” said Harrington, who follows New England labor force trends. “There are not a lot of people who have the skills to be a blackjack dealer. Those jobs are usually filled with people from out of state. It’s the lower-skilled jobs, the hotel and restaurant workers, that end up being filled by the local labor force.”

Still, jobs such as ticket takers and maintenance work could brighten the employment outlook, officials said.

“There will be good-paying jobs,” DeMaria said last month.

Everett has tried, without success, to lure a new development to the former Monsanto Chemical Co. site, which has been idle since the plant closed in 1992. The parcel, valued at $8.8 million, generates $380,300 in annual taxes, according to the city.

About 6 acres of the Monsanto site, valued at $1 million, lie within Boston’s boundaries. Boston Mayor Tom Menino, a strong backer of a Suffolk Downs casino, said last week that any development on the Everett site would have to go through his city. But Wynn said he has an option to purchase only the Everett land. “We’re not using the Boston side,” he said.

In Revere, a resort casino at Suffolk Downs could restore jobs lost when Wonderland Dog Track closed in 2010 after greyhound racing was banned in the state.

“A lot of people had second jobs there for many, many years,” Rizzo said. “That’s where they got their vacation money, their Christmas money, or extra income they needed to live.”

About one-quarter of the Suffolk Downs property is in Revere. The land includes part of the track, parking lots, and a 25-acre horse barn area.

The land is valued at about $12 million, and generates $1.5 million in annual property taxes, according to Revere records.

The hotel, casino, and other new development is planned for the East Boston side of the property. The state gaming law requires applicants that had a parimutuel license in 2010 to continue racing operations for the duration of the license, Tuttle said.

“That would mean a 15-year extension of racing,” he said. “We looked at a lot of different development options. With the premise that the barn area has to stay where it is, initially, there wouldn’t be a lot of development on the Revere side.”

Property, room, and meal taxes collected at the resort would be paid to Boston. However, Rizzo said he is negotiating other payments to Revere as part of the host-community agreement.

“We’re talking about financial payments that would kind of put us on a par with Boston,” he said.

Tuttle declined to discuss specifics of the agreement, but said, “I’m very confident that we’ll reach an agreement with the city that will have extensive benefits for Revere and its citizens.”

DeMaria declined to say how much reinvestment he is seeking as a host city. Transportation, public safety, education, and recreation improvements are among his priorities.

“It will have to be worth it for the people of Everett to have this facility,” he said.

He added that it is “terrific” that Western Massachusetts could see a new casino proposal on Friday.

Companies face a 5 p.m. deadline on Tuesday for filing $400,000 nonrefundable application fee with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, along with comprehensive and detailed materials. The submissions are for the commission’s background checks on top employees, officers and business entities, representing the first step of a two-part bidding process for casinos.

So far, only Penn National Gaming and MGM Resorts International, which are planning competing casinos in downtown Springfield, have filed with the commission both the $400,000 fee and the supporting materials. Two additional companies — the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston and its partner, Caesars Entertainment, plus the Plainridge Racecourse harness track in Plainville, which is bidding for a slots-only facility, — have provided the $400,000 fee.

The chief executive officer of the Mohegan Sun, which is planning a casino in Palmer and was the first company to put its stake in the ground in Western Massachusetts, told The Republican last week that the company will meet the deadline for providing the $400,000 and package for background investigations by the commission.

Chairman Stephen P. Crosby said competition could help assure the best possible deal for the people of Massachusetts.

“It’s just very simple,” Crosby said after the commission’s regular weekly meeting in Boston Thursday. “We really want to have robust competition for every license. If we have at least two competitors for every license, preferably more, we will think we have done a really important first step.”

Crosby also said he welcomed a possible new entrant in the casino sweepstakes in Western Massachusetts. The Eastern States Exposition plans to hold a “red carpet” event on Friday to announce the results of it’s “casino exploration.”

Crosby said he has no inside information and has only read in the media that Hard Rock International could be the proposed developer for a casino on the Memorial Avenue grounds of the exposition.

“It’s great, Crosby said. “I think it is terrific. It is an interesting site. We’ve always been encouraging Hard Rock. I encouraged Hard Rock to stick around and look hard. If they decide to be involved, that would be great.”

A total of 11 companies, including Hard Rock, had earlier meetings with commission consultants to scope out the applications for background investigations.

In a phone interview on Thursday, Timothy J. Wilmott, chief operating officer and president of Penn National, said the company submitted “the exact same” materials to the commission and to the city of Springfield on Jan. 3.

The city is conducting its own casino-selection process. Penn National and MGM also paid $250,000 fees to Springfield in addition to the state fees.

Penn National, working in partnership with Peter A., Picknelly, chairman and CEO of Peter Pan Bus Lines, is planning $807 million resort in the North End of Springfield including on properties owned by The Republican and the bus company.

Wilmott said he expects the company will be found suitable by the state and that the background checks will assure public trust and confidence in casino developers.

“We’re licensed in 20 different gaming jurisdictions,” Wilmott said. “We’re very familiar with the process.”

Also in a phone interview, Michael Mathis, vice president of global gaming development at MGM Resorts International, also said he does not anticipate any problems with the gaming commission’s background investigations.

“We’re confident,” Mathis said. “We’ve been through rigorous background checks many times in the past.”

MGM is planning an $800 million casino on 10 to 15 acres in the South End of Springfield.

Bruce Stebbins, a former Springfield city councilor and member of the commission, said companies face “a hard and fast” deadline on Tuesday for submitting the fee and materials.

“I’m encouraged,” Stebbins said. “We still continue to hear stories, thanks to our friends in the media, about where other possible projects may pop up. Generally, the commission is encouraged by the competition we have seen, as well as the level of investments some of these projects are talking about.”

The $400,000 fee is for paying for the extensive investigations on the casino companies.

“We’re going to be cooperative,” Crosby said. “If you come in at the last minute, we will do everything we can to get you in under the wire, because competition is good. We want competition but the deadline is the deadline.”

The commission hopes to decide by the end of June whether to approve the companies as suitable after the background investigations. If companies clear that hurdle, then they would submit specific development proposals for the projects they plan to construct. The commission plans to be prepared to accept those construction proposals sometime late this year and then award the first casino resort license sometime in February of next year.

Crosby said he is not concerned that only four companies have paid the fee to date.

“That doesn’t mean anything to me,” he said. “If it were me, I wouldn’t put in the $400,000 until 4:59 that day. Why would I give my money to someone else?”

Crosby said it appears as if at least one other company will present a bid to rival Suffolk Downs in the Boston area.

Stephen A. Wynn, the CEO of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts, is eyeing a possible casino at an old industrial site in Everett and would compete with Suffolk Downs for a license.

“Wynn and Caesars are the ones that seem to be the farthest along,” Crosby said. “They are both very substantial companies, powerful companies, powerful personalities. There would be a tremendous competition. We would be delighted if there were two.”

The state’s casino law provides for three licenses for large gambling resorts, with one license to be issued in each of three regions of the state. A slots-only license could be anywhere in the state.

No developer can offer a specific development site to the commission until the project has been ­approved by local voters in a referendum.

On Monday, the Springfield City Council, in a meeting to start at 7 p.m. at City Hall, will consider approving a citywide ballot vote on casino gambling.

Under the state’s casino law, the state’s three most populated cities, including Springfield , would have to hold a ward vote on a casino unless the governing body of a city chooses to put the question to all voters. Leaders in Springfield are expecting a city-wide vote.

The vote would need to be held at least 60 days after a casino company finalizes an agreement with a community. The vote in Springfield could be held as early as June or as late as November.

Also on Thursday, Karen M. Wells was announced as the commission’s new, $145,000-a-year director of its investigations and enforcement bureau. Wells, a former assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the public protection, anti-terrorism, corruption and technology unit for the Middlesex District Attorney, has been an undersecretary at the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

By Dan Ring, The Republican 
on January 10, 2013 at 9:09 PM, updated January 11, 2013 at 12:03 AM

Staff writer Peter Goonan contributed to this story

We’d like to extend our warm wishes and thanks to all of our visitors here at RevereBeach.com for sharing your time with us and many of your wonderful Revere Beach memories. We look forward to offering our audience much more in the coming months as we know that our audience is expanding and always looking for current, accurate and interesting information. This past year our website traffic and social media has exceeded all of our expectations and with the most visitors, page views, and hits  since our beginning in 1997.  We appreciate the loyalty and interest and promise to offer even more in the coming year.

Great expectations exist for Revere Beach, we know that big changes and improvements are on the way. Many of these improvements have already occurred such as the the new bridge and the parking garage. The stage has been set  for more with all of the infrastructure, roadways and lighting.

The summer season offered us a spectacular Sand Sculpting Festival, great fireworks, Celebrate Revere Festivities and alot more!  Bocce on the Beach had a great turnout and was enjoyed by many! Its seems there is always something more going on at the beach for kids and everyone else.

Bianchi’s Pizza, Antonia’s at the Beach, Renzo’s, Pesce Pazzo, Twist & Shake, the Banana Boat, BK’s, The Bagel Bin, Bill Ash’s, Nicks,  Kelly’s and Santorini’s and others all seem to be doing just fine! I’m sure there will be more to come in no time if things begin to develop as it seems it will.

Things are looking up at Revere Beach… lets look forward to 2013 together!

Seasons Greetings to ALL!!