By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
WYANDOTTE, Okla. — The scenario may seem familiar: An applicant to manage a state-owned casino in Kansas has second thoughts because of a nearby tribal casino.
Developers of the proposed Chisholm Creek Casino Resort near Wichita on Tuesday asked the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board to postpone a decision on the project, while partners revised the plans. The developers were concerned about the impact of a plan by the Wyandotte Tribe to build a casino in the area sometime in the future.
In some respects, it resembles the situation in Cherokee County, Kan. Penn National Gaming last year withdrew from a plan to build a state-owned casino near the border with Oklahoma and Missouri after the Quapaw Tribe started building its Downstream Casino Resort on property in Oklahoma adjacent to where Penn National had planned to build in Kansas.
A difference is the Wyandotte tribal casino might still be years away.
More recently, a group of Wichita investors, including former Mayor Bob Knight, failed to get necessary financing for a casino in the same area of Cherokee County. Knight said developers had been in discussion with officials with Penn National and other casino companies about managing the development. He said the group, Ozark Trail Gaming, may reapply in January if it can secure the financing.
Wichita plan
Developers of Chisholm Creek Casino Resort were seeking a state contract to build and operate a $225 million casino complex near Mulvane, about 20 miles south of Wichita.
The Wyandotte Tribe has owned 10 acres in Park City, on the north edge of Wichita, since 1992.
Billy Friend, second chief of the Wyandotte Tribe, said the tribe submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Interior in 2006 to place the land in trust for a future tribal casino. He said he would think the developers of the state-owned casino would have been aware of that when they submitted their application.
Friend said he thinks the Chisholm Creek developers are using the Wyandotte Tribe as a convenient excuse.
“We’ve had an application pending since 2006,” Friend said. “They’re probably wanting to leverage our situation. That’s between them and the state of Kansas.”
Friend said if the Interior Department places the land in trust, the tribe then would have to negotiate a gaming compact with the state.
He said plans are not final, but the tribe is considering a Class 2 casino with a price tag of $20 million to $50 million. He said it may resemble the tribe’s 7th Street Casino in Kansas City, Kan., with 540 machines. Friend said the Kansas City casino opened in January 2008 after a 15-year court battle with the state.
Chisholm Creek
David Gutierrez, a spokesman for Chisholm Creek Casino Resort, said he didn’t know if the developers were aware of the tribe’s plans when they submitted the application to manage the state-owned casino. He said the developers are curious about the tribe’s plans.
“At the basic level is concern that if at some point the Wyandottes would receive approval, it would have an impact on the market,” Gutierrez said. “That’s really the impetus for what’s happening at this point.”
The Chisholm Creek proposal is in Sumner County, because voters in Sedgwick County rejected a state-owned casino being located there. Wichita is in Sedgwick County. Gutierrez said proximity to Wichita is a consideration.
Park City is in Sedgwick County, but the tribe is not subject to the casino vote in that county.
“The addition of a property from the Wyandotte Tribe does change the market dynamic,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez declined to say what changes were being considered to the Chisholm Creek proposal. The developers had planned to open the casino in September 2011 with at least 1,300 slot machines and 30 table games.
Chisholm Creek representative Nicholas Hecker said developers may try to open the casino sooner and with a larger gambling floor, if Kansas Lottery officials agree.
The Wyandotte Tribe also owns Wyandotte Nation Casino and Lucky Turtle Casino in Wyandotte.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
History
According to the Wyandotte Tribe’s Web site, the tribe’s lands have included Detroit, Mich., and Kansas City, Kan. The tribe moved from Kansas to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, after the Civil War.
