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The 6-acre riverwalk park planned as part of the Encore Boston Harbor casino-resort on the banks of the Mystic in Everett will include around 1,000 mature trees selected to withstand the vagaries of New England weather.
These hearty breeds include spruce, maple, plum, cherry, and pear—some of which cost thousands of dollars each to procure and relocate, per the Globe’s Mark Arsenault.
The riverwalk—which will wind through the 3 million-square-foot casino-resort and will be open to the public—will also include 50,000-plus flowering plants and a type of synthetic grass unique to the project’s developer, Wynn Resorts of Las Vegas.
Why the effort? And the expense (the work is expected to cost around $15 million)? Because such greenery and beautification was a big part of Wynn Resorts’ pitch to local and state officials. The company won the development rights for the casino-resort in 2014.
The riverwalk greenery is more than one-third done about 11 months ahead of Encore Boston Harbor’s scheduled June 2019 opening.