Foxwoods: From win to no Wynn situation

December 2005: Local investors team up with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut to apply for one of two casino licenses available in Philadelphia. The group pays $64.7 million for a plot of riverfront land in South Philly.

December 2006: The investors win one license while SugarHouse in Fishtown wins the other. Three applicants are rejected.

June 2007: The state Supreme Court shoots down legal challenges to the city casino locations filed by City Council, anti-casino activists and neighborhood groups.

August 2007: Foxwoods plans approved by City Planning Commission.

April 2008: The state Supreme Court orders the city to give Foxwoods the zoning needed to start contruction after the investors claim that they are being hampered. Mayor Nutter says that the South Philly site is "wrong for Philadelphia."

August 2008: Foxwoods confirms that it is considering alternative casino locations.

September 2008: After months of political pressure, Foxwoods agrees to consider moving the project from South Philly to The Gallery, on Market Street in Center City.

October 2008: State Supreme Court appoints a "special master" to mediate disputes between Foxwoods and the city for the South Philly site. Chinatown residents and anti-casino activists respond angrily to the new location.

March 2009: Foxwoods and Nutter announce that the casino will attempt to move to the former Strawbridge & Clothier department store at 8th and Market streets in Center City.

May 2009: The state deadline for Foxwoods to open a casino passes. Foxwoods requests an extension. One of the two companies that control the former department store tells City Council it objects to having a casino there.

June 2009: City Council approves zoning for Foxwoods to open at 8th and Market streets.

August 2009: The state Gaming Control Board, fed up with inaction, orders the Foxwoods investors to give up on Center City and return to the original South Philly site. The board gives Foxwoods a two-year extension, until May 2011 to open, and issues a series of benchmarks that the investors must meet to show progress.

December 2009: Foxwoods misses one of those benchmarks and asks for a three-month extension.

Jan. 6: Table games are approved for state casinos in legislation that also allows the gaming board to give Foxwoods a second extension, until December 2012, to open the casino.

Jan. 27: The board starts fining Foxwoods $2,000 per day for missing a December deadline to provide information.

Feb. 23: Casino developer Steve Wynn announces that he will take over the Foxwoods project.

Feb. 25: Wynn raises eyebrows in the city and state by announcing that he will build "the cutest casino you've ever seen."

March 3: Wynn tells the board that it will take 20 months to build a $600 million casino, with him putting up 40 percent of the money and financing the rest.

March 31: Wynn and the local investors submit a final financial agreement to the board.

April 8: Wynn stuns the local investors by issuing a news release saying that he is "fascinated" by gaming in Philadelphia but is pulling out of the deal.

- Chris Brennan