By STEVE ISRAEL
Times Herald-Record
TOWN OF THOMPSON – It was a moment for which thousands have waited nearly a half-century.
At 11:10 a.m. Wednesday, on a cloudy, Sullivan County-cold morning, a red Komatsu Forest tree harvester sliced tree after pine tree to clear land for the Montreign Resort Casino parking lot.
This was proof that work is actually underway to prepare the 1,700-acre site of the old Concord resort for the $1.1 billion Montreign Resort Casino at Adelaar.
So what if the actual groundbreaking for construction can’t begin until a license is granted, which could happen in a few months, or as soon as the state completes its background check on the project and its principal officers. A spokesman for the state Gaming Commission would only say the commission is “moving as expeditiously as possible with its review and has set no deadline for license issuance.”
Town of Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber, who stood across from a remnant of the Catskills’ faded past – a crumbling Concord resort social hall – put the moment many thought they’d never see in perspective.
“It’s amazing, like having a baby” he said as the Komatsu buzzed. “First, you’re shocked and awed to find out. And then, it’s going to change your life.”
Although the land-clearing is “only” what Empire Resorts’ Executive Vice President Charlie Degliomini called “the embryonic” phase of the project until real construction can begin, bid packages are already out for what would come after the sloping land is cleared: the infrastructure for sewer and water.
If construction – by Buffalo’s LP Ciminelli, which has built such projects as the Mount Airy (Pa.) Casino Resort and the Seneca Niagara casino – does start in the spring, the Montreign Resort Casino would open in mid-2017.
Rieber, already envisioning the casino with an expansive view of the Catskills, can hardly wait.
“Today is a real moment, a moment nobody realizes how big it is in our history,” he said. The supervisor, also a real estate broker, said the project has generated a “real uptick" in interest in Sullivan property. “This is going to be a real game changer.”
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