MGM may be first to open a Detroit casino

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Thursday, June 3, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

DETROIT -- MGM Grand Inc.'s temporary casino in Detroit could be licensed and be open by the end of July, a Michigan gaming regulator said.

Nelson Westrin, executive director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board, said the agency's background investigation of MGM Grand is complete, the Detroit Free Press reported.

A public hearing is set for June 21, with the five-member board scheduled to vote three to four weeks later on whether to award MGM a casino license, the Free Press reported.

Westrin said background investigations into other companies building temporary casinos -- Greektown and Atwater/Circus Circus -- are taking longer.

The Free Press reported that Bob Nelson of the Gaming Board said it looks as though the Atwater/Circus Circus investigation will be finished in August or September. That means its MotorCity casino could open by October.

Nelson said the Greektown investigation is expected to be wrapped up in October, with a public hearing in November and the casino opening before year's end, the Free Press reported.