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24-573: The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, located near the tribe's Foxwoods Resort Casino , opened August 11, 1998. The 308,000 sq ft (28,600 m) facility was built at a cost of $ 193.4 million, largely funded by casino revenues. It includes a museum and resources for scholarly research on the histories and cultures of the native peoples of the United States and Canada. The museum's permanent collection includes artifacts of Native American peoples of eastern North America from

48-529: A $ 700 million expansion at Foxwoods. On April 25, 2006, Foxwoods announced that they would lease the MGM Grand brand name for the new building, and that MGM Mirage would be a partner in the expansion project. The expansion, entitled MGM Grand at Foxwoods , opened on May 17, 2008. It is a separate building from the main Foxwoods resort. A moving walkway and Tanger Outlets Foxwoods (built in 2015), now connect

72-415: A coastal Pequot village around the year 1550, shortly before the first contact with Europeans. The village is populated by 51 life-size figures of Pequot individuals engaged in activities such as building wigwams , sharpening arrows, and weaving mats. A 600 ft (180 m) photomural of an oak-hickory forest surrounds the village. A 185 ft (56 m) observation tower allows visitors to view

96-531: A high-limit 30-table game area were added in 1995. Because Foxwoods is located on sovereign Mashantucket Pequot land, it is not required to comply with state laws related to smoking. Constructed in 1996, the casino is not a smoke-free facility. Due to complaints in the early 21st century from patrons and employees, it has designated many common areas, such as hallways, walkways, hotel lobbies, retail stores, and most restaurants, as non-smoking areas. In addition, it has designated certain areas for smokers. The poker room

120-515: A labor contract with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. They are the largest group of union-represented dealers at any U.S. casino. On August 7, 2013, the union announced a tentative new contract that would give dealers retroactive and future raises, set stricter limits on second-hand smoke, and give dealers the right to decide how tips are distributed. In April 2018, an additional 300 cleaning and maintenance workers voted to join

144-735: A small base of employees approached several union organizations to explore unionizing of dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino. After the dealer group decided on the United Auto Workers in June 2007, the UAW helped start collecting signatures from dealers in support of a union. The UAW announced in September 2007 that it had collected the requisite number of signatures needed to hold an election to determine whether table games and poker dealers desired union representation or not. The Tribe challenged

168-499: A veto by President Ronald Reagan . The tribe moved forward with development. They founded Foxwoods in 1986 as a high-stakes bingo hall on their reservation. The tribe partnered with Lim Goh Tong , a Chinese Malaysian who founded the only legal casino in Malaysia, for financing to expand Foxwoods into a full gaming casino. In 1992, the tribe added table games, followed by additional slot machines in 1993. G. Michael Brown became

192-498: Is non-smoking, and separate table gaming and slot areas are designated as non-smoking. In 1997, the associated deluxe Grand Pequot Tower was opened for business. Foxwoods was once reported to be the world's largest casino, though it was later surpassed by the Venetian Macau . For years after opening in 1992, Foxwoods had a monopoly on casino gambling in the region. It made billions of dollars in profits. Shortly before

216-487: The 16th century to the 20th century, as well as commissioned art works and traditional crafts by modern Native Americans. A series of interactive exhibits and life-size three-dimensional dioramas depicts the lifeways and history of the Mashantucket Pequot and their ancestors from the last glacial period through modern times. One highlight is a 22,000 sq ft (2,000 m) walk-through re-creation of

240-470: The Mashantucket Pequot reservation , the casino, and surrounding areas of southeastern Connecticut. The museum reports having about 250,000 visitors each year. A reviewer for Connecticut Magazine described the museum as "rival[ing] anything in the nation" and commented that the Pequot village reconstruction and other dioramas "almost put EPCOT to shame". The glass and steel building complex that houses

264-746: The casino management achieved full build-out of the resort by hiring several design and construction entities. The majority of the work from 1992 to 2001 was completed by Construction Managers CR Klewin aka Klewin Building Co. and the Architect of Record was JCJ Architecture (formerly Jeter, Cook & Jepson) of Hartford, Connecticut . Planning and concept designs were by New England Design Inc. and Nick606 Inc. Later phases were completed by Shawmut Design & Construction, Perini Building Co., AZ Corporation, and others, with design work by Steelman Partners , HKS, Inc., and others. The resort managers revamped

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288-426: The chairman of the casino in 1993. In an agreement negotiated with the state of Connecticut, to gain their approval of the casino, the tribe agreed to pay 25 percent of the slot revenue to the state, a sum that amounted to almost $ 200 million per year as of 2007 . In the fiscal year ending June 2008, Foxwoods' 6,300 slots handled more than $ 9.1 billion. In January 2012, the "hold" was $ 45 million. A poker room and

312-470: The election in only one form of the Chinese language, thereby disenfranchising workers who spoke other languages. Furthermore, it said that interactions between union officials and some voters were unlawful. An NLRB Administrative Law Judge ruled that the union and the board provided ample explanation of the election in a variety of languages. Foxwoods appealed the decision. The Foxwoods dealers' union asked

336-536: The jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board for their on-reservation Native American enterprises. Following hearings and review of the petitions, the NLRB ruled in favor of the union and ordered a union election to be conducted. On November 24, 2007, employees voted to unionize: 60 percent were in favor and 40 percent were against. The Foxwoods dealers cast 1,289 ballots for

360-424: The market recession of 2008, Foxwoods borrowed heavily to finance a massive expansion to include new hotel and conference facilities. Starting in 2009, Foxwoods defaulted on debts totaling over two billion dollars. As a result, in 2014 Standard & Poor's lowered Foxwoods' credit rating. The Mashantucket Pequot, owners of Foxwoods, have applied for and received millions of dollars in federal grants. Over time,

384-540: The museum and research center was designed by New York City architects Polshek and Partners . The building design is intended to blend and merge with the surrounding natural landscape. A circular building, the Gathering Space, forms the focal center of the complex and serves as its main entry. Elements of the design are based on the plan of the Pequot fort at Mystic, Connecticut , that played an important role in

408-410: The resort covers an area of 9,000,000 sq ft (840,000 m ). The casinos have more than 250 gaming tables for blackjack , craps , roulette , and poker , and have more than 5,500 slot machines . The casinos also have several restaurants, among them a Hard Rock Cafe . It has been developed since changes in state and federal laws in the late 20th century enabled Native American gaming on

432-783: The sovereign reservations of federally recognized tribes. Foxwoods has two hotel towers, with a total of 2,228 hotel rooms; and an arcade for children and teens. The original tower, the Grand Pequot Tower, opened in 1997, while the second opened in 2008 as the MGM Grand. It was re-branded the Fox Tower in 2013. In 2015, a retail complex, known as Tanger Outlet Mall, opened between the two hotel towers with 85 stores featuring luxury goods . The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe gained federal recognition and legal control of their reservation by an act of Congress in 1983, which overrode

456-494: The state of Connecticut to improve the conditions of their workplace. Workers and union organizers pushed for legislation to ban smoking on the casino floors of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun . The Mashantucket tribe opposed a complete ban on smoking; however, in May 2009 Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell signed an agreement with Foxwoods by which they would limit smoking areas in the casino. On January 26, 2010, dealers at Foxwoods reached

480-628: The tribe's history. The complex received several awards for design and construction, including: In 2006, the museum building's green roof , which covers 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m), was recognized with a Green Roof Award of Excellence. Foxwoods Resort Casino Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut . Including six casinos,

504-565: The two complexes. Amenities at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods included: In late 2013, MGM Mirage split from Foxwoods. The tribe renamed the building as The Fox Tower, part of a re-branding effort as they face new competition from other casinos in the region. In 2015, Tanger Outlets Foxwoods opened within the complex, located between the two hotel towers. Constructed for $ 120 million, the 85-store mall features luxury brands. Beginning with an employee-led website to gain support and share ideas of how to react to changes employees had been going through,

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528-511: The union, 852 against representation, with challenges to 36 additional ballots. Approximately 2,700 dealers and dual-rate dealers were eligible to vote in the election. After the workers won the right to unionize, Foxwoods Casino appealed the election results, reasserting its jurisdictional challenge. In addition, it said that the NLRB had made mistakes in conducting the vote. It had printed the ballot only in English and provided notices explaining

552-773: The whole resort and casino, re-branding it as "The Fox". The resort's appearance inspires frequent comparisons or references to it as the "Emerald City", after the city seen in the film The Wizard of Oz . Games available at Foxwoods include: The Poker Room (formerly known as the WPT- World Poker Tour World Poker Room until 2012) is located one floor below the Rainmaker Casino. Poker games of varying stakes are conducted here, including limit and no-limit Texas hold 'em , limit and pot-limit Omaha hold 'em (including hi/lo), and seven-card stud (high only and hi/lo). The poker room

576-768: Was relocated and expanded in March 2006, increasing the number of tables from 76 to 114, making it the largest poker room outside California . It is the third-largest poker room in the world, after the Commerce Casino and the Bicycle Casino . Since 2014, three major mixed martial arts events have been held at Foxwoods: UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs. Mousasi , World Series of Fighting 20: Branch vs. McElligott and, most recently World Series of Fighting 24: Fitch vs. Okami . Construction started in November 2005 on

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