525 McClellan Highway, East Boston
Weekday evenings in fall 2013 brought East Boston parishioners to Our Saviors Lutheran Church, not for worship, but for organizing.
The congregation, consisting of mostly recent Central American-immigrants, focused its attention on an East Boston-wide referendum concerning the proposed conversion of the Suffolk Downs Racecourse into a casino. Although many parishioners, those lacking U.S. citizenship, could not vote in the referendum, they canvassed their neighbors who could.
Early concerns about the proposed casino were diffuse, raising law and order, and moral and environmental questions. Residents’ immediate objections focused on the likely gentrification of the neighborhood, casino-related land uses, and the anticipated tourist traffic. These were seen as leading to higher rents and more competition for community spaces. In response, the parishioners turned to other congregations, among them several evangelical Christian churches and a predominantly Somali and Muslim one led by an Egyptian-born imam, and to Central American governments’ local consular staff. The congregations also reached out to more-established Italian-American residents who were organizing opposition as well. Soon, a campaign called “No Eastie Casino” was born.
The broad coalition had some unexpected members, including defectors from the political machine of long-time mayor and casino champion, Thomas Menino. On the other side, Suffolk Downs’s owners “donated generously” to local charities. In the end, with the pro-casino camp spending $2 million and “No Eastie Casino” some $40,000, the latter won a convincing victory, receiving 4,281 votes to the proponents’ 3,353.
In rejecting the casino, the residents considered alternative uses for the former horse-racing site, including a mixed-use development with affordable housing and retail enterprises. However, no funding sources materialized to realize the community’s ambitions.
In March 2017, the HYM Investment Group, a Boston-based real-estate company, acquired the land, promising stakeholder consultations, increased community connections, and effective use of the two adjacent subway stops. The community impact of the anticipated large-scale development remains unclear at the time of writing.
Getting there:
Blue Line to Suffolk Downs Station.
Image: Rally against proposed casino, October 2013, East Boston. Photo by Don Nanstad.