Last week, the North End’s single most significant businessman, Frank DePasquale, said that he welcomed the opening of a casino at Suffolk Downs, that it would help business and create new jobs and overall, he was looking forward to it.
“I can’t wait for a casino at Suffolk Downs to open,†he told the Regional Review in a front-page interview that appeared last week.
Mr. DePasquale gets it – that is – he understands how $500 million of private capital to build a casino at Suffolk Downs will affect the East Boston and Revere area but also how the North End’s many and different businesses will be affected.
He said a casino will create jobs for those who build it and for those who will work there. It will also create new businesses and business activity – and that the North End could join in the benefits it will bring if the owners of Suffolk Downs instituted a points system that allows those who use the casino to spend their points in North End businesses – and Mr. DePasquale is absolutely correct in his thinking.
There are no guarantees Suffolk Downs will secure one of three casino licenses being offered but the likelihood of Suffolk Downs receiving a license are very great.
Thousands of jobs will be created there and many of those opportunities for employment will go to North End residents.
If and when the casino finally opens, it will bring an economic boost that will affect the North End and all of Boston.
Mainly, it will be one more reason Boston’s exists as a world class city.
It will not dominate the city or the state. It will not change life in Boston and Massachusetts.
A casino at Suffolk Downs will be simply one more venue for visitors to the city to enjoy.
We agree with Mr. DePasquale.