Already slowed by construction fatalities, jinx-prone Grand Lisboa Palace has now been ravaged by fire. The best that CEO Angela Leong could say about the casino’s late-2018 opening date 
was that it was now uncertain. Sociedade de Jogos de Macau has floated the idea of limping into the market by opening undamaged parts of the property to the public while the flame-affected ones (which include floors one through five) are repaired. “I believe everything relating to the typhoon or the fire will have a certain level of impact, but for now we still haven’t evaluated the level of damage so there is nothing I can concretely say on the matter,” Leong initially told the media.
Although no one was killed, thank God, there were injuries and suspicions of arson have been raised by the multiplicity of burning points. The blaze raged for six hours before being extinguished, with the help of 35 fire engines. If that weren’t enough, a second fire erupted on Monday. After this, Leong was forced to concede that a delayed opening was inevitable. “We still don’t know what actually happened inside so we can´t say for sure, but there will definitely be some sort of delay,” she said. SJM is only just getting the report on a March fire (not of a suspicious nature), so it may be a long while before the fire department signs off on its investigation of this latest setback.
Could an unpaid contractor have taken revenge? Are the triads rearing their ugly heads? And does anybody know where Sheldon 
Adelson was last Saturday night? This latest calamity is another headache for Leong, who is waiting for the government to approve the opening of the hotel component of SJM’s Jai Alai casino — and if there’s one thing we know about Macao governance is that it moves slowly. Understandably, Leong sighed “I just hope that all these calamities will stop quickly and be over and done with.”
On a happier note, MGM Cotai is disclosing details of its interior design, heavy on Qing Dynasty antique carpets, among 300 pieces of contemporary art. Most of it will be the work of 
established modern artists, but a selection of work by up-and-comers. There’s ample MGM precedent for this. MGM Grand Paradise added 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, where works of Degas and Botticelli have been showcased. The casino itself boasts permanent installations of work by Salvador Dali and Dale Chihuly. Hong Kong art collector Calvin Hui is the man charged with the heady project of curating the artwork for the new megaresort. Steve Wynn having done the dubious favor of inflicting Jeff Koons on the Macanese, MGM stands to take the lead as artistic tastemaker.
* The opening of MGM Springfield is still a year off but that hasn’t prevented the casino from starting the staffing process. MGM Resorts International is looking to fill positions ranging from dealer to butcher, croupier to florist. The catchphrases for the hiring push include “Stomach Meet 
Butterflies,” which sounds more like something you’d say to scare people away. MGM expects 120,000 job applicants, a heady number. The company is promising an average salary above $40,000, which is pretty george of them … provided that it isn’t distorted by the inclusion of executive pay packages. Thirty-five percent of the eventual workforce is supposed to come from Springfield but MGM could dilute that figure if it hires heavily from the surrounding area. Ten percent of jobs are up for grabs to people willing to pull up roots and move to Springfield. We’re looking at you, Vermont and New Hampshire, where the word “casino” causes politicians to break out in hives.
* Although skill-based slots bombed in Atlantic City, neither Caesars Entertainment nor GameCo has given up, as they search for an audience. The two companies have announced that Nothin’ But Net, Danger Arena and Pharaoh’s Secret Temple will widen from coast to coast. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, its SoCal sister Harrah’s Resort Southern California and Harrah’s Ak-Chin Hotel & Casino in Arizona will be test pilots for the games, which will widen into Caesars’ numerous Nevada casinos once regulatory approval is given. And if those games pass the flight test, Steve Aoki’s Neon Dreams will be close behind.
