\nBy STEVE ISRAEL
\n\tTimes Herald-Record <\/p>\n
\tTOWN OF THOMPSON – It was a moment for which thousands have waited nearly a half-century.
\n\tAt 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.<\/p>\n
\tThis 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.<\/p>\n
\tSo what if the actual groundbreaking for construction can\u2019t 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 \u201cmoving as expeditiously as possible with its review and has set no deadline for license issuance.\u201d
\n\tTown of Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber, who stood across from a remnant of the Catskills\u2019 faded past \u2013 a crumbling Concord resort social hall \u2013 put the moment many thought they\u2019d never see in perspective.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, like having a baby\u201d he said as the Komatsu buzzed. \u201cFirst, you\u2019re shocked and awed to find out. And then, it\u2019s going to change your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAlthough the land-clearing is \u201conly\u201d what Empire Resorts\u2019 Executive Vice President Charlie Degliomini called \u201cthe embryonic\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\tIf construction \u2013 by Buffalo\u2019s LP Ciminelli, which has built such projects as the Mount Airy (Pa.) Casino Resort and the Seneca Niagara casino \u2013 does start in the spring, the Montreign Resort Casino would open in mid-2017.<\/p>\n
\tRieber, already envisioning the casino with an expansive view of the Catskills, can hardly wait.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cToday is a real moment, a moment nobody realizes how big it is in our history,\u201d he said. The supervisor, also a real estate broker, said the project has generated a \u201creal uptick" in interest in Sullivan property. \u201cThis is going to be a real game changer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}