The state legislature approved casino gambling in 1990 but mandated that gaming facilities be built over water. When Beau Rivage opened in 1999, the gaming rooms sat on five semisubmersible barges anchored by steel pilings. Built by Yates Construction and associated with casino operator MGM Mirage, this was the largest casino in the nation outside Las Vegas. The land-based hotel tower is the state’s tallest building, with 32 stories, 3.2 million square feet, and 1,740 guest rooms. Rising in a folded-slab configuration, the tower has a traditional three-part columnar form, with a base of retail and lobby space, shaft of hotel rooms, and a recessed penthouse attic story. After damage from Hurricane Katrina, the Beau Rivage reopened in December 2006 and remains the largest of Biloxi’s eight casinos.