The Springfield City Council voted Monday to approve a zoning ordinance outlining the footprint of MGM’s casino. The vote is another procedural step in bringing the project to fruition.
The casino overlay district map approved by the City Council will enable MGM to begin clearing the 14-acre South End parcel to make way for a casino.
Council President Mike Fenton said that includes work on some nineteen buildings, some of which will face demolition.
“It allows them to do prep work on the site within the footprint that they’ve proposed. Put another way, this evening’s vote says where the casino will be, not what the casino will be or how the casino will be,” Fenton said.
What the casino will look like will be the subject of hearings Fenton is scheduling sometime in mid to late January. That’s when the council votes on MGM’s proposed design changes and amendments to the host community agreement that was approved by Springfield voters in 2013.
This report was originally published at New England Public Radio.