Massachusetts approves state’s first casino license

Penn National has until 9:30 a.m. Friday morning to accept the conditions set by the commission.

There is only one slot parlor license available for the state of Massachusetts and allows the recipient to provide up to 1,250 slot machines but no gaming tables. Two other properties were also in consideration: Raynham Park (the former dog-racing track) and Cordish Cos (a family owned Maryland company) which proposed a slot parlor in Leominster.

Last September, Plainridge Racecourse owners reached a deal to sell the track to Penn National conditional on the gaming company getting the approval from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Four towns surrounding the current Plainridge location had to sign off on a community agreement with Penn National. In December, Foxborough was the fourth and final town to do so. Penn National needed this support to go forward in the process of obtaining the state’s only slot parlor licence for the harness racing track.

Last summer, Penn National failed to get community support for a slot parlor on a 30-acre lot off Ames Pond Drive in Tewksbury near the Andover line. In September, Tewksbury selectmen voted unanimously to cancel a planned Sept. 21 special referendum on casino gambling just three days after special Town Meeting voters turned down a slots-only casino proposal.