Drastic measures were needed to solve the ETS problem. Interestingly enough, smoking is prohibited in public buildings throughout New York, but visitors to the casino are permitted to smoke, because the facility is located on sovereign land. The Oneida Indian Nation, while wanting to permit smoking, felt strongly about eliminating as much ETS as possible. To achieve that, they were even willing to tear out all the existing mechanical systems in order to improve the air quality within the casino.
And that's just about what happened. A two-phase construction project included demolition of existing mechanical systems and installation of new ones. The first phase of the construction, which was completed in August 2002, consisted of an 80,000-sq-ft expansion of the gaming room. The second phase, which was completed in January 2003, involved a complete renovation of the existing 70,000-sq-ft of gaming floor.