Kansas Star Casino working on reception

Jan. 11, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Visitors to the Kansas Star Casino have found it frustrating that their cell phones often don’t work while they’re there, but the casino is working to fix that.

While some casinos do scramble signals on purpose to prevent cheating, that’s not the case at the Kansas Star, says public relations manager Megan Strader.

“Two years ago, this was a field,” she says of the casino’s Mulvane site. “There isn’t an abundance of cell phone towers in this area.”

Even outdoors on the grounds of the casino, it can be tough to get a signal.

In addition, Strader says the casino’s building has “an immense amount of steel” for signals to penetrate.

She says the casino is looking at ways around the issue.

“It’s something we do want to work on,” she says.

“Trust me, it drives us crazy, too.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , Filed under Casinos, Mulvane, Real estate | Comments Off

Air Capital RV Park opens at 47th Street South and Emporia

July 20, 20125:00 a.m.

Bill Morris with the sign he's installing at his new Air Capital RV Park.

WICHITA — Almost a year ago to the day, Bill Morris told Have You Heard? about his plans to bring the Air Capital RV Park to 47th Street South and Emporia.

It didn’t happen this spring as planned, but Morris recently received his certificate of operation and opened the park.

“We’ve still got things we’ll probably never finish doing,” Morris says. “There’s always something you want to add or do.”

Morris, a real estate developer who also was a mechanical contractor for 35 years, has owned and operated mobile home parks here in the past and an RV park in Texas.

He’s owned the land where the park is for more than two decades.

Morris says his park, which can accommodate 90 RVs, is entirely concrete and sod grass. He says that’s unusual for Wichita, which mainly has dirt and gravel parks.

Part of Morris’ inspiration for the park came from his own RV travels.

“From running all over the country and seeing what’s available,” he says.

He says improvements to the Kansas Turnpike exchange in that area also help make the timing right for the park, which is about a block off of the highway.

Morris says he’s been working with turnpike officials to take the top spot on a sign along the highway to attract guests.

He likes that the new Kansas Star Casino is just down the road in Mulvane, too.

When announcing Air Capital RV Park last year, Morris boldly declared, “It’ll be the nicest one in this part of the country.”

He thinks it lived up to his prediction.

“It turned out great”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Real estate, Travel | Comments Off

Air Capital RV Park coming to Emporia and 47th Street South area

July 25, 20114:35 p.m.

WICHITA — More than 20 years after buying land near the intersection of Emporia and 47th Street South, Bill Morris is ready to build on it.

He plans the Air Capital RV Park next spring.

“We’re going to go all concrete and sod grass,” Morris says. “There is no RV park in the city of Wichita that is built that way.”

Most of them are dirt and gravel, he says.

Morris will use concrete for the roads in the park and the pads on which the RVs sit. There will be 91 spaces.

Morris, a real estate developer who also was a mechanical contractor for 35 years, has owned and operated mobile home parks here in the past and an RV park in Texas.

“The timing is right,” he says of building the park now.

For one thing, he says improvements to the Kansas Turnpike interchange in that area are scheduled to be completed around the first of the year, so he hopes to have the park open by February or March.

“We’ll get a lot of people . . . off the turnpike.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under New business, Real estate | Comments Off