Somerville Awarded Grants For Having Encore Next Door

SOMERVILLE, MA — The cities of Somerville and Everett have received two joint grants from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission's Community Mitigation Fund. The fund was established to help host and surrounding communities offset costs related to building and operating casinos in Massachusetts.

The grants may be used to assist "communities and water and sewer districts in the vicinity of a gaming establishment, local and regional education, transportation, infrastructure, housing, environmental issues and public safety, including the office of the county district attorney, police, fire and emergency services," according to the MGC.

Somerville and Everett received a joint grant of $425,000 to fund the planning and design of an MBTA Silver Line rapid transit bus running from Chelsea through Everett along the MBTA Commuter Rail right-of-way toward Sullivan Square and then into Somerville.

"An extension of the Silver Line with a stop at Encore Boston Harbor would provide significant regional transportation benefits and could also significantly help reduce traffic related to Encore Boston Harbor," the MGC said in a statement.

Both communities also received a joint $400,000 grant to design a connection across the MBTA tracks from Draw 7 Park in Somerville to the Assembly Square Orange Line station head house. The head housed expansion is part of an effort to "connect pedestrians and bicyclists to a regional pathway network and to provide a way over the Mystic River from Everett, opening new transportation options to thousands of people," according to the MGC.

Since 2015, the MGC has awarded approximately $16 million in grants from the Community Mitigation Fund.