Get ready to give directions as only a Rhode Islander can....take a right at where the fronton used to be. Twin River Management Group says it'll close Newport Grand Casino at 11pm August 28th. The gaming license will be transferred to the shiny new Tiverton Casino Hotel which opens to the public at 10 am September 1st well ahead of schedule. So what's to do with the existing building that for far too long had an unsightly gigantic SLOTS sign atop it? Newport Mayor Harry Wintrop says the city has big plans for the 23 acre sight. The Carpinato Group bought the property for over $10-million dollars and plans to create a mix of retail, restaurants, office space and maybe a hotel. Mayor Winthrop says he's still disappointed Twin River's leaving because Newport Grand could have provided jobs if voters had OK'd table games but they didn't have an appetite to do so. The Newport Grand building opened in 1976 and Jai Alai quickly became all the rage, but as the novelty of cestas and pelotas wore off, slot machines were added in 1992 and Jai Alai was eventually eliminated. So now we can add Newport Grand to Bennys and Almacs when we give directions to take a right at where they used to be,