Kansas Crossing Casino officials announced that construction on the gambling property, which is to be located near Pittsburg in the southeastern part of the state, has ceased due to the legal hurdles it is currently facing.
Confirmation that construction work has stopped was given on Tuesday after the Kansas Lottery Commission granted the 90-day extension on the “commencement date” that casino officials requested on August 17. Kansas Crossing asked for the said extension due to the litigation that had been filed against the project.
Earlier this year, the Kansas Gaming Facilities Review Board awarded the Pittsburg casino the last gaming license for a fully-fledged casino within the state borders. The Kansas Crossing project was the smallest one of all three bids submitted, valued at about $70.2 million.
In July, Castle Rock Casino Resort officials, another proposed casino project, filed a lawsuit against the state Gaming Facilities Review Board and the Lottery and Gaming Commission arguing that the regulatory bodies had breached Kansas laws by granting the last casino license to Kansas Cross. Castle Rock was the largest scale project of all three. It would have been located not far from Interstate 44 within Cherokee County and $145 million would have been spent on its construction.
According to attorneys for Castle Rock, regulators not only failed to follow state laws but also chose the wrong competitor for the sole Southeast Kansas casino license. The Castle Rock project was two times the size of Kansas Crossing and according to initial estimates, it would have annually attracted almost 1 million visitors. However, an independent review of the proposed casino questioned its long-term viability.
Apart from Castle Rock, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners also tried to bring the matter to court, but a district judge refused to issue the preliminary injunction the board had asked for. If the injunction had been issued, however, Kansas Crossing would have been prevented from advancing the project.
Terry P. Presta, Executive Director of the state gambling regulator, said in an August 31 letter that Kansas Crossing will have to present a written assessment of the status of the pending litigation. In addition, casino officials will be able to request yet another extension if they decide that one is necessary.
