Full Scale Construction Begins on Everett Casino
– Allison Goldsberry
Wynn Boston Harbor president Robert DeSalvio and Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria enthusiastically kicked off full scale construction of the area’s first resort casino on Thursday afternoon.
Union workers, construction executives, local politicians, state gaming commissioners, and community supporters gathered on the site of the $2 billion, 3 million square foot project. Thursday’s announcement was scheduled immediately following Wynn’s receipt of a Chapter 91 license from the state Department of Environmental Protection, the final step needed before full construction could begin.
“We feel really good about today,” said DeSalvio. “There’s no stopping us now.”
“This is a great day for the City of Everett,” said Mayor DeMaria.
DeSalvio said pending litigation against the project would have no effect on construction and that “we are absolutely, positively moving forward.”
According to State Gaming Commissioner Enrique Zuniga, Wynn Boston Harbor is the largest single phase private construction project in state history. Construction and development executive Chris Gordon said the resort casino should open thirty-four months from today in June 2019.
According to Gordon, 150 construction workers are currently on the job, with 500 expected to be working by the end of the year. In total, the project will hire 4,000 union construction workers in addition to 4,000 permanent jobs. Workers are currently developing the foundation and steel will go up on the building by the end of the year. Gordon said the entire building will be up by the end of next year, and at the end of 2018 furniture will be moved in, which is a thirty-week process.
It will take six months to remove 500,000 tons of soil, according to Gordon. The contaminated soil is headed for landfills and will be removed by trucks as well as trains to limit truck traffic. According to Mayor DeMaria, chemical companies began polluting the thirty-three acre area and shoreline in the 1800’s, and cleaning up the site will “return the Mystic to the people of Everett.” Gordon said environmental regulations allow certain seasonal time frames to complete waterfront clean-up, which will include removal of barges and other abandoned items as well as the dredging of eight acres of river. The shoreline will be a completely public space and will look “dramatically different” by the beginning of 2018, said Gordon.
One hundred and fifty construction workers and over fifteen cranes were on site on Thursday afternoon.
Wynn Boston Harbor President Robert DeSalvio, left, and Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, right.
A construction trailer on the property.
Members of Everett United, a group of community supporters that pushed for the project.
Wynn Boston Harbor rendering (courtesy photo).
Wynn Boston Harbor rendering (courtesy photo).
Wynn Boston Harbor rendering (courtesy photo).