The Sac & Fox Nation of Kansas and Missouri has launched a multi-million expansion that will create 125 jobs, add a poker room, VIP lounge and another 500 games to its casino 60 miles north of Topeka on US-75 highway.
Employment at Sac & Fox Casino near Powhattan will grow to 400 from 275 employees, said Fredia Perkins, chairperson of the Sac & Fox Nation Tribal Council.
She said the Legislature's approval this year of expanded gambling in Kansas didn't influence the tribe's decision.
"We have had this in the works for a long time," Perkins said. "These plans were drawn up in the original plans. Now is as good a time as any to go for it. We hope this not only will give pleasure to our customers, but be profitable also."
Perkins said construction workers started last week to fill in an existing shell of space at the casino.
She said the casino will double its gaming area. The number of gambling machines will grow to 1,000 from 500.
In a news release, Sac & Fox general manager James Stuart said customers will see a new state-of-the-art poker room, a new VIP lounge for top players that will feature luxury furniture, big-screen television and hors d'oeuvres.
The expansion will be completed in seven months. Perkins said it was the middle phase of a long-term plan that includes building a hotel or cabins near a pond on tribal land.
Sac & Fox Casino opened 10 years ago. It has since added a golf driving range on the south side of the casino, which is about an hour's drive north of Topeka.
Perkins said casino revenue was the greatest during the first two or three years of operation because casinos were so new to Kansas in the 1990s. Gambling revenue has leveled off at the Sac & Fox Casino in recent years, Perkins said.
The casino is one of four Indian-owned casinos in northeast Kansas that opened in the 1990s.
The Sac & Fox Nation also is a partner with the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas in plans to build a casino near the Kansas Speedway. The partners have owned 80 acres at Kansas City, Kan., for four years.
Sen. Jim Barone, D-Frontenac, said the Sac & Fox Nation's announcement Monday "seems like a naturally competitive response to improve their product."
"People want to gamble," he said.
Several Kansas communities have approved gambling through a law passed by the 2007 Legislature, Barone said.
The law allows state-owned casinos in Ford County, Wyandotte County, Sedgwick or Sumner counties, and Crawford or Cherokee counties, upon voter approval.
Voters in Crawford, Cherokee, Wyandotte, Sumner and Ford counties have approved gambling measures. Sedgwick County will vote on a casino Aug. 7.
By Michael Hooper
The Capital-Journal
Published Tuesday, July 24, 2007
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