MGM Springfield could be ready sooner than expected

The $950 million casino project was pushed back to accommodate the rebuilding of Interstate 91, Kennedy reminded the crowd at a news conference on Thrusday meant to mark the halfway point of the project. The most recent official word from MGM Springfield is that the casino will open in the fall of 2018.

"MGM has not said this to us. But we know Interstate 91 is five or six months ahead of schedule and we know MGM is on schedule," Kennedy said. "There is a major insurance agent convention scheduled for Springfield in August 2018. So we never know what might happen."

MGM was not at the press conference.

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MGM Springfield has made great progress this winter and at this time we are comfortably on schedule for a September 2018 opening, said Carole Brennan, MGM Springfield spokeswoman

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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has said that the $183.3 million I-91 project is ahead of schedule and under budget.

Officials expect the highway reconstruction project to reach "full beneficial use" in May 2018. Full beneficial use is a highway term of art meaning work is effectively done, although punch list items will remain.

The work will rehabilitate about 2 miles of elevated highway that opened 45 years ago in December of 1970.

Kennedy and city officials hosted a news conference Thursday to release a memo from The Chicago Consultants Studio, an urban planning company helping the city hold MGM to its promises.

MGM Springfield is 18 months into its construction process and has about another 18 months to go.