Officials with the Kansas Lottery are still optimistic that an applicant will step forward with a proposal for a casino in southeast Kansas.
Kansas Lottery executive director Ed Van Petten said that there has been little discussion over a potential group stepping forward to construct and manage a destination casino in either Crawford or Cherokee counties.
“Within the last month, we have not heard of anything, but last month we did hear from a potential applicant that seemed promising,” Van Petten said.
He declined to release the name of the interested party as the deadline to submit an application for consideration in the southeast Kansas zone is at 2 p.m. today.
Since the passage of Senate Bill 66, establishing four zones in the state for destination casinos, there have just been two applications submitted to the state for consideration in the area.
The first, from Penn National Gaming, ended after the company withdrew its application scant weeks after submitting it.
Some time later, Ozark Trail, LLC out of Wichita, made an application that was later rejected.
“It has been a little frustrating,” Van Petten said. “The first person that withdrew didn't think the money was there and the second applicant did not have significant proof of financial backing.”
Bob Knight, former Wichita mayor and partner in Ozark Trail, LLC, said it was difficult to meet the state’s requirement for investment.
“We're not able to make economic sense out of a minimum $225 million investment, and I don't know that anyone can,” Knight said. “Even if you phase it in, you have to commit to that figure and that makes it very difficult.”
He added that it was not because the area was undeserving of a destination casino, however, with casinos like Downstream Casino — located at the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri intersection — located nearby. But financially, it was difficult to make the numbers fit for an investment like what the state required and have a facility that was economically feasible.
“This should be an intermediate investment, not the high end,” Knight said. “Unless you see a change with the state, I don't know that you will see anything happen.”
Knight said that a more manageable investment is about half of the $225 million the state requires.
“I think we can make sense of that,” Knight said.
Even with no clear applicant to hang their hats on, Van Petten still remained somewhat confident that there would be a destination casino in southeast Kansas in the future.
“It may be another year or so before the economy comes around, but I think someone will be interested in it,” Van Petten said.
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140.
