Web-posted Mar. 16, 11:45: AM
Betting on the future
Boot Hill Gaming optimistic about possible casino in Western Kansas
By Ashley Nietfeld
Dodge City Daily Globe
Michael Schweitzer/Daily Globe Robin Jennison, a lobbyist for Boot Hill Gaming Inc., speaks to an audience about the possibilities for a casino in Dodge City during an informational meeting Thursday afternoon at Western Beverage.
As Legislatures put the finishing touches on House Bill 2055, members of Boot Hill Gaming, Inc. gear up to rally support for gambling in Dodge City.
"We are trying and have been trying, now I think for the sixth Legislative season, to bring a destination gaming facility to Ford County. Specifically to Dodge City," said Boot Hill Gaming president Jeff Thorpe during an informational public meeting at Western Beverage Thursday night.
A destination gaming facility would possibly include an entertainment venue, a convention center, hotel, restaurant and a gaming facility.
"Where we want to put it, we don't know," said Thorpe. "We'll probably largely want to companion it with what we do on a special events center project."
Michael Schweitzer/Daily Globe Jeff Thorpe, left, president of Boot Hill Gaming Inc., answers a question from an audience member while Clark Stewart, president of Butler National Corporation looks on, during a meeting about the possibility of gaming in western Kansas, Thursday afternoon at Western Beverage.
A report put together by the Christensen Capital Advisors, LLC in 2006 said that a destination casino would bring in approximately $57 million in gaming revenues, $3 million more than what had been previously projected by Boot Hill Gaming.
The casino at Dodge City would have a projected construction cost of $50 million, much smaller than those proposed the eastern part of the state.
"We're, for all purposes, the small guy," said Thorpe. "This isn't a Las Vegas adventure...We're talking about what's relative to us."
"Stop the erosion of money in the state of Kansas," said Robin Jennison, former Kansas Speaker of the House of Representative and current lobbyist for Boot Hill Gaming. He said that Kansas is losing money to other states that do provide gambling.
"We had the riverboats in Missouri where 38 percent of that market is in Kansas."
Although the bill has yet to even reach the House, Boot Hill Gaming has already looked into casino operators and found Butler National Corporation, a Kansas based avionics firm that also operates casinos in Oklahoma.
The company built a casino in Miami, Okla. eight years ago.
"We were worried that we'd ever get our money back, let alone ever make any money," said Butler president Clark Stewart. "It's turned out quite profitable for the Indian tribes, and the place grows at about 3 - 5 percent a month. It's done that steadily for 8 years."
"When we went to Miami in the mid-90s, you know, there was a lot of store fronts closed, a lot of eating places closed, car dealers were drooping. Everything down there was sick," said Stewart. He said that economic development has picked up significantly since then with a "fresh front Main Street, all kinds of additional businesses open."
House Bill 2055 would put a casino in Kansas City, Kan. and in southeast Kansas and slot machines at racetracks in Crawford, Sedgwick and Wyandotte counties. It would also allow slots at a racetrack in Dodge City, should one be built.
However, the Kansas Wins! coalition is pushing to rewrite the bill to put a casino in Dodge City, and put Sedgwick and Sumner counties into consideration for casinos.
As of yet, Dodge City hasn't been named in the bill rewrite, however, southwest Kansas has, with a stipulation that one casino can't be within 150 miles of another casino, according to Jennison. This would mean that any tract of land west of Russell is up for grabs for a casino.
"From a Dodge City standpoint that's not as good as being named," said Jennison. "But I think Dodge City is the most likely place. Nobody else has really expressed an interest."
Boot Hill Gaming is also pushing to have table games in addition to slot machines. "Do you think the cowboys just played slot machines when they were here in the 1880s?" asked Jennison.
Reach Ashley Nietfeld at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail her at
ashley.nietfeld@dodgeglobe.com