By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
GROVE, Okla. — A summer 2008 opening is planned for a $60 million-plus casino with a five-story, 125-room hotel, a 1,600-seat convention center and three restaurants.
Paul Spicer, chief of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, presented the tribe’s plans for the resort casino on 30 acres on the shore of Grand Lake to the Grove City Council on Tuesday. The resort is to be just east of Sailboat Bridge on Highway 59.
The chairman of the Quapaw Tribal Business Committee on Wednesday said he would release information early next week about the tribe’s plans near the borders with Kansas and Missouri.
The City Council took no action, and Spicer said he didn’t seek any council action.
“We wanted the city of Grove to be involved from the beginning,” Spicer said about presenting the plan to the council.
Spicer said the tribe plans to pay property taxes or the equivalent amount of money to the city.
“We want to shoulder that burden,” he said.
The resort casino would create about 450 jobs, Spicer said. He said the restaurants would be a steak and seafood restaurant, a large buffet, and a sports bar.
Spicer said it has not been determined if Grand Lake Casino, which the tribe now operates near Cowskin Bridge, just outside Grove, will remain open when the new casino opens.
Spicer said that at Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Gary Bishop was satisfied with his answer to the mayor’s question about whether the land had been placed in trust. Spicer said he told the mayor that it wasn’t necessary that the site be placed in trust.
Councilman Larry Parham said he is not in favor of gambling, but that as a councilman, he must consider what is in the best interest of Grove residents.
“I guess the question is, ‘Would it be a benefit to the citizens of Grove?’” Parham said. “So far, it seems like a doable deal.”
Parham said three women who are members of the tribe spoke against the casino proposal. Bishop disagreed with that description, saying the women complained partly about the casino proposal, but when they began making personal statements about Spicer, he cut off their comments.
Bishop, a local pastor, said he is opposed to the casino on moral grounds.
John Berrey, chairman of the Quapaw Tribal Business Committee, on Wednesday said he would not confirm if the tribe was planning a casino off the Interstate 44 exit to Baxter Springs, Kan., at the location where Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri meet. He said he would release details probably early next week.
“It will be a very substantial development,” Berrey said.
The tribe owns around 107 acres in Cherokee County, Kan., according to records on file with the Cherokee County appraiser and register of deeds. The tribe bought the property in June and August last year.
Records in the Ottawa County appraiser’s office show that the tribe owns 49 acres in that area.
The location is near where Penn National Gaming is proposing to build a state-owned casino in Kansas.
Both Berrey and Spicer said their plans were not influenced by plans for a Kansas casino.
“It hasn’t driven our decision,” Berrey said.
“The Kansas development is a plus for the whole area,” Spicer said. “I think most of the tribes welcome the Kansas entry.”
He added that the plans for the new casino were not meant as a way to take advantage of the potential additional business that a Kansas casino could bring.
Kansas state Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, said he thinks the recent spate of new casino proposals in Oklahoma is a direct result of the plans for a casino on the Kansas side.
“I think that they understand if Kansas has a first-class facility, this would be a great draw for them,” Gatewood said.
He said that is one reason it is important that Cherokee County voters cast their ballots on the casino referendum on June 5.
Regulation
Kansas state Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, said the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma could submit a proposal to the Kansas Lottery Commission to operate a state-owned casino in Cherokee County, but state law requires that any entity approved to operate a state-owned casino invest $225 million in the project and pay an additional $25 million to the state.
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Seneca-Cayuga Tribe plans 2008 Grove casino opening
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