CHICOPEE – Michael Mathis, president of MGM Springfield walked the packed Chicopee Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Feb. 21 through the status of the nearly $1 billion casino project in Springfield.

After noting the casino is still on schedule to open in September, Mathis reminded the audience that Chicopee would be receiving $100,000 annually for the next 15 years as mitigation funds. Mathis sees Chicopee as important to the success of MGM and will benefit from it success. He added many of the construction workers came from the city.

Mathis also released details – members of the media received a detailed press release on the subject – about the culinary offerings MGM will present.

“For those who work in downtown Springfield help with lunch is coming to downtown Springfield,” Mathis said.

He explained the casino would feature a restaurant with “a celebrity chef “ and “Italian fine dining. That chef is Michael Mina, who will introduce “an Italian concept evoking the vibrant seaside elegance of Italy’s Amalfi Coast”  named Cal Mare. The menu will include, according to the press release “Seafood from the Mediterranean and Pacific Ocean will be essential menu offerings, as well as fresh handmade pastas and brick-oven pizzas.”

Mathis then spoke of a Chandler Steak House, which the releases described as a restaurant that “will offer cuts of meat made with 100 percent Midwest Angus beef that has been dry aged in-house for 21 days. Guests will watch their dinner as it is prepared over an open mesquite charcoal broiler through a glass-walled kitchen serving signature dishes such as northwest salmon, whole steamed lobster or a tomahawk ribeye. Before or after a meal, visitors will be invited to grab a cocktail in The Chandler’s chic bar and lounge area, where a curated mixology program will entice revelers with creative libations.”

Mathis said the former Armory building will be named the “South End Market” and be home for several food shops. He said the buffet, a staple of casinos in Las Vegas, NV, will not be part of the Springfield operation and the approach at the South End Market is designed to attract Millennials. The restaurants inside include “Wicked Noodles, a pan-Asian restaurant; Jack’s Lobster Shack, offering lobster rolls and New England-style clam chowder; an all-American eatery at Bill’s Diner; and healthy options at the Hearth Grill. Additionally, guests will be able to sit and sip at a Wine & Cheese bar or satisfy their sweet tooth at a Gelato & Espresso counter.”

There will also be TAPS sports bar, which will be near the casino’s bowling alley and arcade.

Mathis also noted the casino’s movie theater is planned to feature “luxury seat” and will have a bar.

Now having the management contract for the MassMutual Center, Mathis said MGM would use it leverage to bring big name acts to the venue.

“If you want to play Las Vegas you have to show some love to our sister properties,” he said of MGM Springfield and National Harbor in Baltimore, MD.

Mathis sees there will be ancillary development near the MGM campus.

“There is real movement going on,” he said.

Since MGM has only 250 hotel rooms, Mathis sees Springfield’s other hotels as benefitting from the casino’s success. He believes the casino will be creating three to four day stays.

“We want to bring the show to downtown Springfield,” Mathis added.