Two To Tango in Kansas

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Now there are only two Kansas casino proposals

Last month the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. announced the sale of its 50 percent interest in a casino adjacent to the Kansas Speedway to Penn National Gaming. This allowed Penn National and its rival, Kansas City Speedway Development Corp., to combine forces in a single casino bid. Originally, there were eight bids to run a state-owned casino in Wyandotte County.

The new partnership faced questions from the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board last month. The panel was due to begin hearings on the competing plans, plus plans for the Wichita areas, and decide between them by December. Instead it heard about the combined project. This may truncate that process, although the board still plans to hold extensive hearings.

The casino resort will no longer be a Hard Rock-branded facility. It will instead use the Hollywood-themed proposal similar to others that Penn National operates. It will still be built on Turn 2 of the speedway. Construction will begin in 2011 and it will be open the following year, say the new partners.

The board questioned the partnership’s representatives about its plans to postpone building a hotel until 2014. Penn National originally promised to build a hotel and casino simultaneously for its proposal, which it has now dropped.

According to Board Chairman Matt All, “If we believe the contract we have been given does not maximize the possibility we have been given, then this board is duty bound to turn that contract back. This board is not going to be a rubber stamp even though we have only one contract.”