MGM-Foxwoods, Marvel present plans for casinos
BY FRED MANN
The Wichita Eagle
WELLINGTON - One of the largest casino groups in the world and one that's starting over presented plans for Sumner County resorts at a public hearing this morning.
Citing the combined might of two of the bigger companies in the world, a Foxwoods Development official said its planned Sumner County casino resort would be something that would make the whole county proud.
"We have the ability to do what we promised to do," said Gary Armentrout, managing director of Foxwoods Development, which is a partner with MGM Mirage and Chisholm Creek Ventures in a first-phase $425 million casino project for the Mulvane interchange on the Kansas Turnpike.
Armentrout and other officials of the MGM group showed videos of the Foxwoods resort in southeastern Connecticut -- the world's largest casino -- as well as a computer-generated video of the Sumner County casino, which would cover 176 acres.
Plans feature a 10-story high-rise hotel with 250 rooms and a casino and other facilities done in prairie-style architecture.
"We want people to come to this facility and say, 'I can't believe we're in Kansas,' " Armentrout said.
Roger Wagner, owner and principal of Marvel Gaming, a spin-off of Jack Binion's former Horseshoe Gaming Co., said it would focus all its efforts on its planned $376 million project for Wellington, its only current project.
The Marvel management team consists of former Horseshoe executives and members of Binion's family.
"This project is our only priority," he said.
Wagner showed artist renderings of the Marvel casino, called the Trailhead Casino Resort, which hadn't been available to the public until the hearing. It also features prairie-style architecture, with a 16-story hotel featuring gold glass. It would be the tallest of the four hotels proposed and the one that most resembles a Las Vegas facility, he said.
Marvel's casino, like former Binion-owned casinos, would feature better odds for gamblers, more liberal complimentary amenities and more of a "down-home" style of management than the other proposals, Wagner said.
More than 40 people have signed up to speak during a public comment session that begins at 1:30 p.m.
Sumner County commissioners plan to decide which proposals to endorse Wednesday. |
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