Town officials in New Hampshire in November approved a developer’s proposal to build a casino at the Rockingham Mall, a project that drew the unanimous opposition of city councilors over the border in Lawrence out of fear that it will heavily target financially desperate Lawrencians.
The Planning Board in Salem, N.H., appeared to give the Lawrence City Council’s plea to block the project little consideration before it voted 5-2 on Nov. 26 to approve a site plan and use permits for a “charitable gaming” establishment at the site of an old Lord & Taylor store.
The project calls for 1,340 gaming positions, restaurants, event space and more. The project would rise at a location that’s about a 15-minute drive from Lawrence City Hall and would represent a new gaming option for people in the Merrimack Valley or North Shore.