Loyalty to Krafts colors Foxborough casino debate

Foxborough is a football town, and residents like Fortune are not only true, vocal fans of the hometown team but also its owner, Robert Kraft, who with his family has built the National Football League franchise over almost two decades into a winning proposition while donating millions to local causes.

That’s appreciated, Fortune said. But the $1 billion resort casino that Las Vegas developer Steve Wynn proposes to build on land owned by Kraft across Route 1 from Gillette Stadium is another matter entirely. The gambling project, Fortune and other opponents say, will bring nothing but trouble.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a positive feeling for the Krafts, and now probably more so,’’ said Fortune, as the team heads into its showdown Sunday with the New York Giants. “But this is giving the town a stigma it doesn’t want. It’s like building a methadone clinic in Foxborough. Put a hotel on it? It’s still a methadone clinic.’’

Kraft and the Patriots are a winning combination, and some supporters of the casino venture say the town would be crazy to pass up the potential $10 million to $15 million in tax revenue each year from the project.

Admittedly still on the fence about the casino, Bea Maloof said all town residents should research the facts before making any decisions.

“My family is here, and I grew up here,’’ Maloof said. “I believe the Krafts have always had the community’s best interests in mind. They would never intentionally do anything bad.’’

News that leaked out late last year about the casino idea that was quietly under discussion for months immediately split the community of some 17,000 people into warring camps.

Opponents are concerned not only that their elected officials were discussing such an important issue out of the public eye, but also that the traffic and crime such a proposition could generate would overwhelm the small town. The disagreement hit a fever pitch at a contentious December selectmen’s meeting.

A majority of the five-member board voted, amid raucous cheers and boos, to tell Kraft the town is not interested in playing host to a casino.

Casino opponents have collected several thousand signatures asking Kraft to stand by his word to withdraw the proposal if residents don’t want it. According to the state’s new casino legislation, Kraft cannot take a step further unless selectmen agree to enter into an agreement with him and Wynn.

Supporters like Jen DeAngelis, meanwhile, said Kraft’s track record should not be ignored. She said she is frustrated with closed-minded residents who refuse to listen to reason.

DeAngelis, who moved with her family to Foxborough in March, said she respects the opinions of the anticasino residents, but she is not pleased those thoughts seem to have been forced upon the rest of the town.

Shannon Sylvia, who said she wants to hear the proposal, said she doesn’t think the Patriots’ success will have any bearing on people’s confidence in the casino project. But she said based on Kraft’s past success in town, she trusts him to make intelligent, sound business decisions.

That may be so, but it isn’t the point, said casino opponent Stephanie Crimmins.

“Mr. Kraft is an incredible businessman, but we are hopeful that people recognize that his intentions on Route 1 are not necessarily in the long-term best interests of the town,’’ she said.

Michele Morgan Bolton can be reached at michelebolton@live.com.