Plainridge Park Casino recently opened as the first casino in Massachusetts. This $250 million LEED Gold Certified facility is located on a 90 acre parcel on Route 1 and 495 and features the only live harness racing track in the state. The new casino will showcase over 1,200 of the latest slot, video poker and blackjack machines, Doug Flutie's first restaurant and areas for indoor and outdoor seasonal entertainment.

The landscape design provides all season color and interest throughout four distinct canopy levels, from large shade trees to understory flowering and ornamental trees to shrubs to perennials and groundcovers. Plant material was carefully selected to create full year interest, while at the same time facilitating low maintenance.

Our design places an emphasis on establishing a harmonious variety of plant material and avoiding monoculture. Despite each area of the project being different, with its own set of unique needs and environmental conditions, we carried many species throughout the entire site to ensure the design included appropriate levels of variety and continuity. Visual buffering was critical along strategic portions of the site perimeter with the use of evergreen trees providing an opaque foliage screen throughout every season. 

Due to the proximity of the developed areas to existing wetland resource areas, and as a general practice, we emphasized the use of native trees, shrubs, and perennials where possible throughout this design to create a landscape that is colorful and rich, while at the same time hardy and appropriate for the New England climate. Many of these species were also selected because they rank highly on the wildlife food index table. Finally, we specifically selected plant species that are not hazardous or harmful to horses to protect our clients' interests.

DETAILS

• Location: Plainville, MA
• Client: Springfield Gaming and Redevelopment, LLC
• Completion Date: 2015

SERVICES PROVIDED

• Landscape Architecture
• Regulatory Permitting