The Encore Boston Harbor casino is set to open its doors to the public this Sunday, Medford Mayor Stephanie Burke said there are a "mix bag of emotions" in anticipation of the opening.

A couple of weeks ago, Burke learned that starting July 1, Encore Boston Harbor casino will lease 700 spots for its employees at the Station Landing Garage, which would only leave 400 spaces left for Station Landing commuters from Medford. In addition, the first five levels of the garage will no longer offer monthly passes.

The Station Landing Garage, which is owned by Pilgrim Parking, is a popular garage for commuters who use the Wellington MBTA station and the Orange Line, and State Rep. Paul Donato and Burke released a joint statement on June 5 to address the issue.



“We are very disheartened that Pilgrim, a private entity, decided to inform their monthly parking pass holders less than 30 days in advance that they will no longer offer monthly passes,” Donato and Burke wrote. “At this time, we do not want residents to be alarmed until all of the data has been obtained from the owner of the garage on the usage statistics.”

A day after the statement, Burke further shared her frustration and stated that Encore Boston Harbor broke the city's surrounding community agreement.

“Part of our surrounding agreement is that they are there to work with the city when they secure spaces,” Burke said recently. “Clearly, they did not comply with the surrounding community agreement to come up with these spaces that they are now leasing from Pilgrim. That is what has raised the ire. We are trying to bring Wynn back to the table to discuss this because they did not include us, which is a problem.”

At the time, Burke said she was in the process of communicating with the different parties involved, and she was trying to figure out how many Medford residents have monthly passes to see if the 400 remaining spaces can accommodate the Medford commuters. However, this past week, Burke said she learned from Encore Boston Harbor casino that there are enough spaces for the Medford commuters in the garage.

"Encore has confirmed that anyone from Medford who may have been displaced, there are enough spaces for them," Burke stated on Wednesday afternoon. "If there is anyone from the city that was parking there and wants to call my office, I can connect the dots for them."

Traffic concerns

Although the parking garage situation has been sorted out, Burke said there are still other concerns with the opening of the casino, such as the potential for an increase in traffic. According to the Medford Transcript's news partner WCVB Channel 5, casino officials expect around 50,000 people or more to show up for opening day, and Burke said they will have Medford Police "on board" to make sure the scene is safe and everything is working orderly.

"The police will be out and about, and they are going to watching things very, very closely," Burke said. "The timing of it probably couldn't be better because school is out and Tufts is out so that definitely helps but as you see everyday, the traffic is just insane everywhere."

Burke said she expects it to be a bit chaotic in the beginning, but hopes it will get less hectic after the initial surge.

"It's going to be a tough couple of weeks I think," she said. "It's going to be hard until it settles out. In the first few months, it's usually a little bit crazy but after that it settles out a little bit."

Medford City Council President John Falco also shared his concerns about the increase of traffic with the opening of the casino.

"I am very concerned, and we will be actively monitoring impacts on neighborhoods," Falco said. "[We will be monitoring] how it impacts our neighborhoods, our roads and our quality of life."

In a response to a question posted on the Medford Transcript Facebook page, many Medford residents shared their disdain for the opening of the casino.

"Horrible place to put the casino," Jimmy Monagle wrote. "Traffic is already terrible. The casino is going to be a disaster!"

"Traffic will suck around the city more than it already does," added resident Mike Amico.

Burke said she did a tour of the casino facilities on Wednesday, and overall, she said is "mixed" and "nervous" about it opening on Sunday.

"I am excited about the job opportunities for Medford residents," Burke said, who mentioned the casino hired 150 Medford residents. "From a job perspective, it's a great thing. Traffic is a whole another matter. I'm nervous, and I'm sure many people in Medford are nervous about it to see what the impact is going to be. It really is a mixed bag of emotions."

Although not everyone may be interested in the casino, Burke said there are "beautiful" restaurants, a meeting room and a convention space to handle weddings and functions in the building, which Burke said will open up "a lot of avenues" for residents and businesses in the community. However, Burke emphasized a casino is completely new territory so they will have to see what happens.

"I think it is going to be trial and error to see how it turns out," Burke said. "We have to be optimistic at this point because we have no track record for this. Unfortunately, you have to take good with bad. We will have to wait and see at this point, but I'm nervous."