The Pequot Tribe Builds a Riverfront Casino

Back in the 17th Century, the founding fathers of the Pequot Tribal Nation lost their place as the dominant culture in the Atlantic Coast of New England but last December 7, 2006, the Pequot Indian Tribe, the proud owners of one of the largest casinos in the world-aims to secure their position by constructing a $560 million dollars worth of slots establishment along the Delaware riverfront of Philadelphia. If the Foxwoods Development Co., wins the permit on December 20, 2006 to construct the 16/12-acre site along the South Columbus Boulevard in the South Philadelphia area, the Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia will be the Pequot Indian Tribe's first gambling business outside of the state of Connecticut and will once and for all secure the tribe's position as the major industry player in the slots market.

According to the CEO of Foxwoods William Sherlock that Philadelphia could be the first major step towards an array of other projects across the United States. But the area presents some difficult blocks. About Five Companies are in the race for two casino licenses in Philadelphia and the plans of Foxwoods' are generally opposed by different community groups fearing the effects of a bigger slots parlor on South Philadelphia. But for Foxwoods, the stakes are much larger than it could imagine so they are really keen to pursue their plans in the state.

The Pequot Indian Tribe established the Foxwoods Development Corporation back in 2003 to oversee their expansion plans of the Foxwoods name. The company has plans on Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Biloxi, Miss. They are also in the midst of finalizing agreements with other gambling corporations like MGM-Mirage. The Pequot Nation also assists other Indian Tribes like the seven-year agreement they have signed just recently with the Pauma Band of Mission Indians to operate their $300 millions worth casino facility located in the north of San Diego. Just last year, Foxwoods had a consulting agreement with the Picayune Rancheria of the Chuckchansi Indians that runs a Casino in Central California.

Howard Dickstein, an attorney that represents numerous tribes that has casinos all over California said that this tribes has set-up a new bar regarding the standard of gaming all over the country. Back in Connecticut, Foxwoods Casino welcomes about an average of 40,000 visitors every weekday and up to 55,000 visitors during the weekends and annually, about 1.3 million visitors arrive in the casino. The Foxwoods Casino employs a total of 10,300 employees in their three hotels, 30 restaurants, retail shops, entertainment facilities and two golf courses.

The Pequot Indian Tribe and the other Tribes in the country began operating casinos back in 1988 when the Indian Gaming Rights Act was approved by the Congress. In the state of Connecticut, the Pequot Indian Tribe was allowed to operate bingo and table games like poker and blackjack even without the law because it is legal. They were only allowed to operate slots machines after the Indian Gaming Act.

The Foxwoods Casinos now possess 390 gaming tables and 7,400 slot machines-larger than any casinos in the United States. Management announced that they will soon be adding 1,500 slot machines and a hotel tower that has 4,000 Seat Theater and 824 rooms with the MGM-Mirage. The MGM Grand Hotel, set to open its doors in the spring of 2008 will allow the Foxwoods Resort to compete with other Las Vegas Casinos in the area for rights in hosting big events and conventions.

The Bingo Hall, the largest in the world with capacity to host about 3,500 players attracts players like Maria Marcinko, an employee with the state government from Harrisburg. She makes the 51/12 hour trip from her residence to Foxwoods just to take part on the tournaments at the casino. The Pequot Indian Tribe became one of the most influential and powerful Indian Tribes in Southern New England in the early 1600's, influencing the region's coastline and currency-the Wampum, a bead made from the shell of a clam. But a series of problems and conflicts with the European Settlers reduce the population of the Pequot Indian tribe from 4,000 to 2,500.

The profits that the Pequot Indians earned from their casinos helped them to rebuild their entire community and create jobs for its people and provide health care, education and other important services for the members. The Gambling profits also paid for the Pequot Community Center, a Fire and Police Department and housing for the tribe. It also helped build the $250 million dollars worth Manshantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center which holds the tribe's history. The money from their casinos also helped the tribe to build political allies. Since 1995, the tribe has given $3.1 million dollars in campaign contributions to both the Democrats and Republicans.

The Residents in the area said that the traffic located on the South Columbus Boulevard is already jam packed with the activity from their commercial and port area. A casino that would attract to about 10 million visitors annually would add to the burden of the residents. The casino by the Pequot tribe would be build next to shopping centers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. The IKEA and Best Buy Stores will also be located south of the casino. About two dozen members of the Riverfront Communities United, a group of neighborhood civic groups that strongly opposes the Foxwoods Casino, attended the hearings regarding the casinos suitability in the area.

The Foxwoods team gives a three hour presentation to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which will then decide on which of the five applicants will acquire the two licenses that will be issued by the city. But despite the explanation, a lot of the opponents of the plan are still not convinced. Some people thought there is something going on when the State Sen. Robert J. Mellow (D., Lackawanna) proposed a Senate Bill that would have given the riparian rights automatically to the Foxwoods Casino and the Sugar House if either one of them wins the license. The bill was stopped permanently in a committee hearing last month. As Ed Kirlin, one of the anti-Foxwoods casino members in the Pennsport area distribute the flyers said that if the plans of the casino is approved, it would really be disastrous.