On June 30th 2015, it was reported in Columbus that the Cherokee County commissioners are planning to ask the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to reject the recommendation for a casino in southeast Kansas and to start the selection process all over again.
On Monday, the county commissioners voted to ask the state to block the recommendation from the Lottery Gaming Facility Review for a $70.2 million casino in Kansas.
The review board accepted the Kansas Crossing casino proposal last week, as it was the least expensive of the plans that were proposed. The Kansas Crossings principals also have a close relationship with local officials and the key investors were also involved in the Dodge City.
The officials of the Cherokee County prefer the proposal for Castle Rock Casino that is a $145 million casino project. The developers said that they would provide 1400 slot machines, 16 table poker room and 35 table games that would attract more than 1 million visitors a year. The Kansas Crossing casino would offer 16 poker tables and 625 slot machines that would attract 500 000 visitors a year.
The chairman of the Cherokee County, Richard Hilderbrand said that they believe the review board did not follow the state law in regards of determining the maximum revenue that could be generated, encouraging tourism and what serves the best interest of the people of Kansas.
A spokeswoman for Kansas Crossing, Carrie Tedore said that the review board had the best consultants, studied the proposels and chose Kansas Crossing based on the size and location for southeast Kansas.
Consultants questioned the viability of Castle Rock and the project partners added another $60 million, which meant the investment by partners would be $110 million. This then left $30 million to finance.
The Kansas Crossing casino is to be built south of Pittsburg and is expected to open next summer. It would also be the last of four casinos that are non-tribal allowed under the 2007 Kansas law.
The casinos are owned by the Kansas Lottery and the state receives 22% of the gambling profits.