Let the games begin.
After being ran out of their Wyandotte County casino in 2004, the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma Indian Tribe said they would eventually be back.
It took the better part of three years, but at 10 p.m. Thursday night, they welcomed the public into their new 7th Street Casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan.
“Our people have been [in Wyandotte County] for many, many moons,” Wyandotte Nation Chief Leaford Bearskin told a large group of dignitaries during the casino’s grand opening. “We’re here, and we’re here to stay.”
The casino, spread across two floors, features more than 420 slot machines, a full-service restaurant called Lucky’s Steak and Chophouse, a 24-hour concession stand and three full-service bars. The new casino is located in the old Scottish Rite Temple at the intersection of 7th Street and Ann Avenue.
Starting in March 2007, the tribe spent more than $21 million to renovate the facility, including the addition of two wings on the north and south sides of the building to accommodate elevators and stairways, providing access to the restaurant’s lower level entrance, a complete change of the heating and air conditioning system and other general updates.
Renovations reflect the casino’s 1920s, speak-easy style, with a dark mohagany bar and stairway rails, green-and-white marbled columns, and ghosted glass.
“7th Street Casino will be more than a gaming facility - it will be an experience themed around the by-gone days of Kansas City, Kan.’s rich past,” Wyandotte Nation president and chief executive officer Dennis Pontiere said. “It will transport our customers to a very remarkable time in Kansas City’s history.”
The casino itself will offer more than 20,000 square feet of gaming space, enough to house more than 420 Class II slot machines. The machines look like traditional slot machines, but are required to play games that are a derivative of bingo.
Jim Hunt, general manager at the casino, said players can enter into the tribe’s Player’s Club. Additionally, the casino will offer a VIP tier on the top floor of the casino, offering slot machines playable in higher denominations.
Although tribal officials have long anticipated Thursday’s grand opening, a myriad of court roadblocks seemed to threaten the opening since the original casino’s closing in 2004.
Then-Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline authorized a raid on the facility, shutting the tribe down and confiscating gaming equipment inside.
Kline argued an existing case by state officials that the tribe had improperly placed the land in trust.
Late last year however, a federal appeals court in Denver dismissed the lawsuit, ending a court battle that had dragged on for 11 years.
“There’s no active lawsuits out there,” tribal attorney David McCullogh said Thursday. “We always thought we’d be at this point, but it dragged out for way too long.”
Just a few years ago, animosity directed at the tribe’s casino wasn’t limited to state officials. Many local officials also took offense at the casino’s operation.
But that past displeasure was hard to detect Thursday. U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore (D-3rd District), Unified Government Mayor/CEO Joe Reardon and members of the UG’s Board of Commissioners were all on hand to help open the facility.
The tribe cleared a local hurdle last October, when it reached a memorandum of understanding with UG officials. The document spells out a number of services the UG will provide to the casino, including police, fire and medial services, as well as offering a municipal parking garage, located about two blocks away, for use by the casino’s customers.
In return, the tribe has agreed to a schedule of payments to the UG based on revenues. The schedule calls for the UG to receive three percent of the first $10 million in revenues, one percent of the second $10 million and 0.3 percent of the third $10 million. The UG would not require any additional payments beyond the first $30 million in revenue.
Officials said remaining revenue would benefit the nation’s 4,400 members, living primarily in Oklahoma and Kansas.
Legal details put aside - although perhaps temporarily, as state officials maintain they could file a lawsuit - Thursday’s grand opening gave tribal officials the chance to finally realize their dreams.
“Today is a great day for our nation, Kansas City, Kan., and downtown,” Wyandotte Nation Second Chief Billy Friend said. “Kansas City, Kan., will never be sorry that the Wyandottes are here.” |
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