Twin River Spending Millions with Out-of-State Firms to Build Hotel
Friday, April 14, 2017
Twin River Casino is using an out-of-state architectural firm for its new hotel in Lincoln, as well as out-of-state consultants to do structural and electrical engineering work, a GoLocal investigation has found.
According to documents obtained by GoLocal, Twin River is using out-of-state vendors for the new hotel in Lincoln - Connecticut-based architect JCJ, who is using structural (Classic Engineering) and electrical (WPF Engineering) firms from Michigan, and a "low-voltage" engineering firm (Network Technologies) from Georgia.
"This state should demand an explanation and seriously consider re-negotiating its relationships with Twin River," said URI Professor of Economics Len Lardaro.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Lincoln gaming facility went from a slots parlor to a full-fledged gambling facility following a statewide bond referendum in 2012, with the promise of "jobs and revenue" - and received approval from the Rhode Island General Assembly in 2015 to build a hotel on the property.
Latest at Twin River
The Rhode Island General Assembly touted the money being spent - and jobs being created - by Twin River, when the hotel was approved in April 2015 for Lincoln.
"Casino officials say the hotel will be built in the modest style of a Courtyard Marriott or Hampton Inn. Cost of building the hotel is estimated at between $30 million and $35 million, with construction taking about a year. The...hotel is expected to create about 200 temporary construction jobs and 100 full-time jobs, casino officials have said," touted the Rhode Island House of Representatives press office at the time.
Similarly, Governor Gina Raimondo supported the legislation shortly thereafter.
"As our neighboring states look to draw revenue and economic development away from Rhode Island, we need to examine every possible way to remain competitive and create more economic opportunities here in Rhode Island," said Raimondo.
Taxpayer groups, however, questioned the casino's decision to go out-of-state for vendors -- and jobs -- given the promise of "economic opportunities" - for Rhode Islanders.
"As if our state's failed corporate-welfare strategy isn't bad enough, it is a further hit on taxpayers that our lawmakers have not been wise enough to at least include a 'Rhode Island first' provision as a condition for these overly-generous handouts," said Mike Stenhouse with the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity.
"If 'jobs' truly is the goal, it's time to smarten up and put the interests of Ocean State businesses and families as the paramount consideration to everything we do," added Stenhouse.
Defending Decision
Twin River's spokeswoman defending the casino's choices for vendors.
"There will be many Rhode Island companies working on the project. To look at engineering firms only would be to look at just one piece of the project. In fact, the general contractor, Excell Corporation, is a Rhode Island firm based in East Greenwich," said spokeswoman Patti Doyle.
"JCJ has a long history of excellence with Twin River. They were involved in the 2007 complete renovation and later, the table game expansion, to name a few. They have deep knowledge of the property which is critically important from both a quality of work and cost saving perspective," added Doyle.
"We'll announce the construction schedule shortly, and we do not disclose costs to date," added Doyle.
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