In the picturesque city of Concord, New Hampshire, the stir of economic expansion resonates through the whispers of autumn leaves, as entrepreneur Andy Sanborn’s eagerly anticipated gaming venture inches closer to reality. Through the fog of legal skirmishes, the proposed beacon of entertainment has seized a pivotal court victory, tantalizing the possibility that the shuttered doors will soon swing open to a haven of luck and leisure.
Yet, among the echoes of slot machines and clinking coins, the journey to this recent triumph has been anything but a game of chance. Local resident Kassey Cameron, her name now etched in the annals of this high-stakes saga, had cast the dice in a fierce legal battle within the austere walls of Merrimack Superior Court. Her aim was clear: to challenge the behemoth 43,000-square-foot project, the epitome of Cameron’s concerns for community and code.
Cameron’s suite of grievances was as colorful and varied as the blinking lights of a slot machine – alleged violations of local zoning laws, hasty and improper approvals that, in her view, should never have seen the light of day. Yet deeper still were the murmured fears of the populous – the visions of snarled traffic weaving like a serpent through their streets, the specter of environmental decay, and the whispered threats of unsavory elements like prostitution and illicit narcotics trailing in the wake of gaming glory.
It was not merely the voice of one dissenter that pierced the proceedings; the collective heartbeats of over 150 signatories backed by the Concord Greenspace Coalition reverberated against the proposed monolith. Their petition, a clarion call for limited growth, stood as a testament to their unified stance against the casino’s advance.
Despite the opposition, the blueprint for the colossal entertainment complex told a tale of opulence and ambition. The Concord Monitor had peeled back the curtain on plans revealing a sprawling 26,000-square-foot gaming paradise. It’s a realm of 634 seats, 486 electronic games, 21 table games, and an exclusive poker room, all awaiting the eager patronage of fortune-seekers. Add to this an 8,500-square-foot culinary wonderland – a restaurant and brewpub poised to tantalize the taste buds of gamers and gastronomes alike.
The promised future shimmered with the prospect of an adjoining hotel and sprawling event space, further sweetened by the whisper of expanding gaming floors to match the hunger for play. Proponents of the project brandished their trump cards with zeal – the promise of over 250 jobs unfurling like a royal flush, the allure of invigorated tourism to their dear city, and the noble narrative of charitable contributions, where a princely 35% of the casino’s gross revenue was vowed to fortify approved charities every ten days.
The saga of casinos in Concord held a familiar ring for Andy Sanborn, his name an echo of past controversies. With the waning year, the state cast its die, ordering Sanborn to part ways with his existing venture, the Concord Casino nestled within the embrace of Draft Sports Bar & Grill. Whispers of interested buyers, five in total, hummed through the grapevine, with Las Vegas’s Full House Resorts Inc., bearing its own royal portfolio of seven gaming properties, as a potential suitor.
Time – that relentless arbiter – granted Sanborn an additional trio of months to ink the deal, a concession conferred by the sage scrutiny of Gregory Albert, now the architect of the case’s fate. Albert’s declaration demanded not mere intent but the tangible gears of transaction, as reported by the Concord Monitor.
Sanborn’s tapestry of tribulations wove in darker threads, as allegations surfaced of an insidious dalliance with $844K in COVID-19 relief funds, funds which state whispers suggested were diverted from their righteous path to acquire lavish vehicles – a move scrutinized by state officials.
As this tale of fortune and fate continues to unfurl, the uncertain dance between the siren call of economic expansion and the soulful chorus of community concerns continues to play out in Concord’s historic heart. Only time will pluck the strings of destiny to reveal whether Sanborn’s gambit will hold the winning hand in the ever-spinning roulette of New Hampshire’s future.
