Tuesday the Sumner County Commission heard from residents of the County, who overwhelmingly spoke in favor of Wellington's exit 19. They got their wish.
Global Gaming LLC's proposal for a casino at exit 19 is the only casino proposal endorsed by the Sumner County Commission.
A room of 60 to 70 Sumner County residents filled The Raymond Frye Complex in Wellington Tuesday morning. There was support for Mulvane's exit 33 and Wellington's exit 19 — the majority was for the latter.
"The most desirable location for a casino in Sumner County is at exit 19," Wellington resident and businessman Robert Leftwich told the commission. "The central location provides...the most potential for economic development for the entire county..."
Mulvane casino proponent Patsy Allan liked both proposals for exit 33, but was leaning towards plans for the Kansas Star Casino.
"This is an opportunity for us to help the children," Allan said to the commission.
"They've got equestrian sports that's going to be out there — that's something else that's going to draw family not just people at the casino."
Another county constituent asked the County Commission to endorse all three casino proposals.
"Surely all the citizens of Sumner County would like to see this issue settled so all county communities can live again in harmony and see the impact of a favorable scenario of economic growth for all," Betty Wyatt said.
The support for a casino at exit 19 was reinforced by The Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce Director, Shelly Hansel-Williams. The Chamber collected more than 200 postcards in favor a casino at exit 19 that were sent to the county commission. Hansel-Williams said there were 100 more that didn't make it in by the deadline.
"These are cards signed by Sumner County residents," the Chamber Director said Tuesday morning. "...I think it is clear to see, an exit 19 development is the overwhelming choice by the people you represent."
After the public had their chance to speak up, casino project developers had a chance to acknowledge the comments that were made, the eventual endorsee, Global Gaming, LLC, backed up their bid.
"As they say in the legal profession 'our case rests,'" Global Gaming's Chief Executive Officer John Elliott said. "We have put forward a pragmatic plan. We have put it forward in writing and we have put it forward in presentation. We believe our proposed site is the best site as it is central to Sumner County for job creation." Elliot also pointed out exit 19 would not require extensive investment for infrastructure, he said the state will benefit with a casino at that location.
"We do not believe there are any revenue differentials for the state," Elliott continued. "As we have said before, we operate a number of facilities on the I-35 corridor and have millions of customers on that corridor today."
Last week in a presentation to the Sumner County Commission, Global Gaming said the facility will be approximately 200,000 square feet with 1,300 electronic games, 40 black jack tables, 20 poker tables, a 1,400-seat entertainment and events center, 80-room hotel and six restaurants and bars.
The casino would be located on roughly 80 acres and construction would be scalable for future phases, which would include a total of 2,000 games, a second hotel, parking garage, and RV park. Global Gaming would work with Wellington KOA to extend the RV capacity to the casino site.
A 3,000 square foot public safety facility would also be put in place for the Wellington Police and Fire Departments as well as the Sumner County Sheriff’s Department. Other safety measures would include traffic lights, acceleration and deceleration lanes.
The casino would also have the ability to control an additional 420 acres of adjoining land for future development.
In all, the project would create 1,000 direct jobs in Sumner County and would use about 350 local subcontractors and labor in the 14 months the facility will need to be constructed.
Now that the Global Gaming project has been endorsed by the Sumner County Commission, the Gaming Review Board has 60 days to choose weather to forward the proposal on to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission for final approval. With this being round three of casino talk, county residents are well aware everything is still a roll of the dice.
"We certainly understand that we were here two years ago..." Wellington City Manager Gus Collins said. "We'll continue our support of Global Gaming and exit 19 as we take our applicant to Topeka."
Stay with the Wellington News for comments from the meeting Tuesday morning and recaction to the news of the endorsements.
