March 29, 2024
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Pro-casino donor has Vegas links Firm involved in several projects

PORTLAND – A company that has spent more than $200,000 in in-kind services for the campaign to legalize a casino in Maine has also designed and built some of Las Vegas’ biggest and best-known casinos.

Marnell Corrao Associates is the successor to the company that built and operated the Maxim Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, which was sold in 1982.

Its other projects include Rio Hotel and Casino, which was sold in 1999. Marnell Corrao is the general contractor for Steve Wynn’s high-profile, high-budget project, Le Reve, also in Nevada.

Current projects include a $375 million expansion to the Bellagio, which will include a 925-room tower. Marnell Corrao built the original Bellagio in 1998 for $1.8 billion. The company also has worked on projects in New Jersey.

If Maine’s Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation are allowed to build a $650 million casino, they will pay Marnell Corrao back for services rendered so far and use the company for construction, architectural and design services, project spokeswoman Erin Lehane said.

The company’s architectural rendering of the $650 million resort-casino the tribes want to build in Maine is more low-key than the flashy Las Vegas properties.

It shows a white, multiwindowed exterior with red-topped turrets resembling grand old New England hotels.

Opponents of the Maine casino have said the project is being controlled by out-of-state interests who care more about money than Maine.

Dennis Bailey, a spokesman for the group leading the fight against a casino, said nobody knows whether the company will complement or clash with Maine’s culture.

James Barrett Jr., secretary-treasurer of the Marnell Corrao company who also owns a waterfront home in Westport, said he has a vested interest in Maine’s future.

“To me, it’s a wonderful opportunity to capitalize on its natural resources and its people resources.

“Maine offers a tremendous opportunity for not only its citizens, but for the rest of the country to enjoy some good, relaxing times,” Barrett said.

Casino supporters have submitted petitions to state election officials in hopes of forcing a referendum on the proposal next November.


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