In Kansas, a Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks recently ruled construction can resume on the .2 million, state-owned Kansas Crossing Casino in Crawford County. Work on the project was halted last September after competitor Castle Rock Casino and Cherokee County filed a lawsuit, stating the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board’s decision was arbitrary. Hendricks stated substantial evidence supported the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board’s 5-2 decision recommending Kansas Crossing last June.
Hendricks wrote, “The board’s explicit duty to consider which proposal ‘best maximizes revenue’ or best ‘encourages tourism’ necessarily requires a consideration of whether the project was feasible in the first place. A shuttered casino–or, as one board member put it, a ‘monument to failure’—generates neither revenue nor tourist visits, no matter how rosy its projected numbers may have appeared at the outset.”
Kansas Crossing’s lead investor is Topeka commercial developer Bruce Christenson; the group also includes many individuals involved with the state-owned Dodge City and Mulvane casinos. JNB Gaming, based in Dubuque, Iowa, will operate the casino which is expected to open in March 2017. Christenson said, “The court’s decision is great news for the people of Pittsburg, Crawford County and the region. It’s certainly great news for the hundreds of people who will benefit from jobs during construction and the hundreds more who will benefit from permanent jobs once Kansas Crossing opens next year.”He said the casino will create 380 construction jobs and 325 permanent jobs.
Christenson noted the project will enhance tourism in southeast Kansas, with a gaming floor featuring 625 slots and 16 table games, plus a 120-room hotel, 125-seat restaurant, 400-seat events center and 3,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater.
Russell Jones, attorney for Wichita businessmen Brandon and Rodney Steven’s proposed $145 million Castle Rock Casino in Cherokee County, said his client may appeal the ruling. Christenson said the group will restart construction even if the Steven brothers file an appeal.
