Two lawsuits have been filed to stop the construction of the state-owned Kansas Crossing Hotel & Casino in the Southeast Kansas Gaming Zone.
Castle Rock Casino filed a lawsuit on July 31 in Shawnee County against the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, the Kansas Gaming Facility Review Board, members of both groups, the Kansas Lottery and its executive director. Recently the review board selected and the gaming commission approved the $70 million Kansas Crossing project, to be located south of Pittsburg, instead of the $145 million Castle Rock proposal.
Castle Rock also wants its lawsuit combined with one filed by the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners. But on July 31, District Judge Larry Hendricks rejected the county’s request for a temporary injunction.
Castle Rock attorney Russell Jones said the review board made the wrong decision and did not follow state law, which requires it to determine which contract offered maximum revenue, encourages tourism and serves the best interests of Kansas. “We don’t think the facility review board and the gaming commission did what they were supposed to do and pick the best contract. We feel strongly that Castle Rock had the best proposal,” Jones said.
Castle Rock officials said their proposal would offer 1,400 slot machines, 35 table games and a 16-table poker room and attract more than 1 million visitors annually, compared to Kansas Crossing’s 625 slot machines and 16 poker tables and 500,000 annual visitors.
Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission spokesman Fred Waller said the review board followed proper procedures. “We used the same procedure as we used in the first casino selection. It’s a different board but the same process. So we’re satisfied,” Waller said. He noted the selection process would start over if the judged ruled in favor of Castle Rock. Jones said the lawsuit most likely would go to trial next year.
Review board members said the smaller Kansas Crossing venue would be the right size for the market. They pointed out its main investors had previous involvement in two other state-owned casinos. Also, consultants hired by the review board had doubts about Castle Rock’s revenue projections and questioned if it would be profitable enough to make payments on $95 million in potential debt to finance the project.
Pittsburg City Manager Daron Hall said, “The difficult thing about everybody suing everybody else, it is limits the opportunity to talk. What we need is to sit down and talk with Cherokee County about what’s good for the area.”
The southeast Kansas casino is the last of four nontribal casinos allowed under a 2007 Kansas law. The others are located in Dodge City, south of Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas Lottery owns the casinos and the state receives at least 22 percent of their gambling profits.
