EVERETT, MASS. (WHDH) - After years of construction and controversy, the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor is slated to open to the public on Sunday during a celebration that is expected to draw more than 50,000 people.
With a police mobile command center in place and timely shuttles, the city of Everett is bracing for the festivities.
The new casino’s 3,000 parking spaces won’t be able to accommodate the crowd that’s expected to turn out, and police are asking anyone planning to attend to leave their cars at home.
7NEWS got a sneak peek last week around the most expensive resort opening in the United States this year.
Aside from the glitzy casino floor, the Encore has plenty of amenities, including spas, clubs and high-end stores and restaurants.
The development is 3 million square feet and features more than 3,000 slot machines, 143 table games and 671 hotel rooms.
The rooms in the hotel range in price from about $600 a night to more than $10,000.
“This was not about gambling,” Wynn Resorts President and CEO Matthew Maddox said. “This is about economic progress and urban renewal.”
Wynn purchased the waterfront property in 2015.
They spent the following years turning an old chemical wasteland into a posh destination that Mayor Carlo DeMaria says will revitalize the area.
“We are no longer a gritty city,” DeMaria said. “We are a city that is on the move.”
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