Even though legal action is pending, tribal owners said Thursday that the 7th Street Casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan., will open Jan. 10.
The Oklahoma-based Wyandotte Nation bought the former Scottish Rite structure at Seventh Street and Ann Avenue in 1996 and has been in court ever since fighting the state, the city and several Kansas-based tribes for rights to operate a casino on the grounds.
The Kansas attorney general’s office has filed a motion with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver seeking to reverse an October decision in favor of the tribe. The state almost 12 years ago challenged the land’s status as de facto reservation land qualified for tribal gaming, but has never had an appellate court rule on the merits of its argument.
“This is a case about fairness,” the state said in its motion that in effect seeks to restart the case that challenged the land decision by the federal government.
The court in October agreed with the U.S. Justice Department and dismissed the case on technical grounds. But in a concurring opinion, two of the panel’s three judges urged that the state’s case be restarted and decided on its merits.
“The case isn’t alive,” tribal second chief Billy Friend said Thursday. “Everything that’s been done in court has been in our favor. We’re going to go ahead and open up.”
David McCullough, the tribe’s Oklahoma City attorney, agreed and said the tribe had cleared every legal hurdle put in its way.
“There’s nothing to prevent us from opening,” he said. “We’ve won all the cases. If they don’t have an injunction or stay in place, which they don’t, you act consistent with the ruling.”
No hearing date has been set.
The key issue centers on the state’s claim that the tribe improperly purchased the old Masonic lodge and half-acre tract with federal funds not allowed for such purposes but that, if proper, qualified the land for federally licensed casino activity.
The 10th Circuit panel ruled that the state’s allegations were filed too late and after the tribal land had been put into trust in 1996 by the U.S. government on behalf of the tribe.
That, the court said, insulated the government from the state’s lawsuit and left the federal court system with no jurisdiction in the matter. It dismissed the case.
The state contends that the federal government’s argument on timing is flawed and that because it never raised the issue during 11 years of litigation it is “patently unfair” to raise it now.
The building’s potential for legal tribal gaming has long been a bargaining chip in the tribe’s efforts to establish a larger and modern casino elsewhere in the county.
When Kansas lawmakers earlier this year established a legal framework for state-owned casino gambling operated by the Kansas Lottery, the tribe began a $20 million remodeling project to convert the building to a three-story casino and steakhouse themed as a “Roaring ‘20s” speakeasy.
Under federal Indian gaming law, wagering at the casino would be restricted to Class II devices, electronic games that look and play like slot machines but technically are a variation of bingo. A spokesman said Thursday that the casino will offer about 400 Class II machines.
The tribe earlier this year reached a revenue-sharing accord with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., that earmarks 3.5 percent of the first $10 million in casino revenues for the city, then 1 percent from the next $10 million and 0.3 percent from the third $10 million. The Unified Government gets nothing from revenues in excess of $30 million.
In exchange, the city agreed to provide police, fire, utilities and other municipal services to the casino, including free parking in nearby city lots to casino customers, including during weekday business hours, when other motorists must pay to park.
While the agreement acknowledges tribal sovereignty over the small tract, it requires the tribe to adopt zoning, building and public safety codes equal to those enforced by the city. |
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