Out of four planned casinos to be built in Kansas, only one is still going forward at this time. Butler National Service Corp. has said that it plans on breaking ground for a new casino facility in Ford County shortly and hopes to have the $87.5 million dollar casino ready to open by the end of 2009. Plans for three casinos in nearby counties have all fell apart as the winning bidders have pulled out of the running.

The latest to pull out was Kansas Entertainment which had planned a $700 million dollar resort casino at the Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County. The company gave the reasons for backing out as the poor economy and tight credit markets. They have stated that they will reapply with a less ambitious plan.

Penn National Gaming had previously withdrawn their bid due to competition from an Indian casino near their Cherokee County location and Harrah’s Entertainment withdrew plans for a $535 million dollar project last month. Penn has said that it may reapply and there are other bidders possible.

Kansas Lottery would be the official owner of any casinos built and remains optimistic even in the face of the withdrawals. Projects may be scaled down due to the costs of financing in the current economy but they are confident that the market is there.