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Aykroyd heralds Mohegans' $682 million Earth expansion

By ERICA JACOBSON
Norwich Bulletin

Posted May 15, 2008 @ 12:02 AM
Last update May 15, 2008 @ 01:31 AM

Mohegan, Conn. —

The $682 million Earth expansion at Mohegan Sun, with its hotel featuring
House of Blues music hall and themed rooms, has the blessing of its tribal
owners, bank institutions and a Blues Brother, tribal and casino leaders
said Wednesday.

"Today is a wonderful day because we marry the spirits of two great
entities," Dan Aykroyd, a co-founder of the House of Blues, said after
making his entrance to the ceremony at the top of a parking garage via a
Harley-Davidson. "In today's world, God knows we need music, fun,
entertainment and leisure."

The groundbreaking is the last for the $925 million Project Horizon, an
incremental expansion and renovation at Mohegan Sun, and comes just days
before the Mashantucket Pequots open their $700 million MGM Grand at
Foxwoods hotel and casino expansion.

Parts of the Mohegan expansion opened last year, including Sunrise Square
-- a dedicated Asian gaming, dining and bus lobby project. That renovated
section of the existing casino debuted in August and the 64,000-square foot
Casino of the Wind now under construction will open this fall.

The Earth portion of the project will rise next to the Winter garage with a
39-story hotel tower and 922 rooms, 261 of which will have a House of Blues
theme. When completed in October 2010, the golden tower will be the tallest
building in the state. The hotel will be connected via retail and dining
corridors to the Casino of the Earth and the existing Sky hotel tower.

A House of Blues music hall with a 1,500-person capacity also is part of
the expansion, as is a private dining room in the hotel tower for people
who are members of the House of Blues' charitable foundation.

The Project Horizon expansion originally was budgeted for $740 million, but
an audit of that estimate in mid-December revealed "a bad estimate of the
original cost," Mitchell Etess, president and chief officer of Mohegan Sun,
said at the time.

Since then, the downturn in the economy and shifting credit outlooks have
caused concern throughout the casino industry. Last week, the Mohegan
Tribal Gaming Authority announced second quarter revenue at Mohegan Sun was
off by 10.9 percent from the same period in 2007.

Wednesday, Etess said financing was not an issue for the project.

"The banks have a tremendous amount of faith in us," he said.

State Rep. Tom Reynolds, D-Ledyard, hailed the project.

"It is my hope that this project will represent not only an economic engine
for the region and the state," he said after the ceremony, "but also as a
job creator for people in the local area."

Construction crews already have begun excavation in the area that used to
be the Winter entrance. Gone is a small park where statues of the Mohegan
chiefs once stood and chain link fences now line many roadways guiding
traffic around the site.

Tribal Chairman Bruce Bozsum joked about the fake plunger he, Aykroyd,
casino administration and tribal leaders pushed to shoot off fireworks.

"I didn't get the memo on what would explode," he said. "I'm glad it wasn't
a building."

During the groundbreaking for the Casino of the Wind last year, Bozsum took
the helm of a backhoe and accidentally unearthed a small water line. He
said he wanted to avoid a repeat of that during Wednesday's ceremonies.

"I'm not allowed to play with large equipment anymore," Bozsum said. "That
was my own rule."

Reach Erica Jacobson at 425-4241 or ejacobson@...