"'Children and pets left in cars will be reported to the police.' Planted in a plot of New England countryside, Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut, is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but one cannot yet sleep here. Hence the problem of where to put children and pets..."[1]With a $4 million loan secured by the Arab American Bank (a consortium of 17 Arab financial institutions and 4 U.S. banks), the Pequots built a bingo hall which generated $13 million in gross sales (yielded $2.6 million in profits) in its first year of operation (1987). Then came Reagan's signing of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. With this, the Pequots pursued the Malaysian rubber company of Genting International for a loan, and were able to secure one of $55 million. The loan was paid off in just seven months after the casino opened.[2]
Foxwoods only offered roulette, blackjack, craps, and other table games in its first year of operation. The Pequots negotiated a pact with Governor Weicker Jr., I-Conn., giving them exclusive right to operate slot machines. In return, the tribe gave the state 25 to 30 percent of the annual slot revenues, depending on the total received.[3]
Genting International lent the tribe another $142 million for casino expansion and construction of a 610-room hotel. They have formed a partnership to build a second 330-room hotel nearby. The tribe also plans to take advantage of the growing interest in gambling among Asian immigrants and tourists by building an Asian theme park, complete with a monorail and replica of China's Great Wall.[4]
"The Pequot's staggering profits have built a community center, a child-development center and new housing. 'The 280 [Pequots] now have no worries about college tuitions or health insurance,' Thomas B. Allen recently wrote in National Geographic. 'Foxwoods, with 8,200 people on its payroll, now rival Electric Boat as a major employer in southeastern Connecticut.'[5] "[6]
2. Christopher Rowland, "Playing to Win," Geographical Magazine (December 1993): 27. Return
3. Richard L. Worsnop, "Gambling Boom," CQ Researcher (March 18, 1994): 244, 255. Return
5. Thomas B. Allen, "Connecticut," National Geographic (February 1994): 91. Return