Another local casino option?

A group of businessmen and the Wichita tribe of Oklahoma are interested in developing a casino near 21st and Broadway as part of revitalization efforts for that area. A casino “would bring money and prosperity to the area,” said Ken Thomas, who owns a pet supply business in the neighborhood.
The proposal and support seem sketchy at this point, but with downtown space limited, perhaps the City Council should at least consider this redevelopment area as a potential site.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

6 Comments

  1. Joe Williams
    Posted June 24, 2005 at 5:03 am | Permalink

    They would get the Real Estate pretty cheap.

  2. Jed
    Posted June 24, 2005 at 1:03 pm | Permalink

    Oh, gee, another casino option! The manure salesmen are swarming thick tonight!
    While I have no serious objection to casinos in general, the idea that they are a way out of our current economic woes is absurd. The most they will do is keep Kansas gamblers from paying taxes to neighboring states. To get out-of-state spenders to come here to dump their money, given our lack of mountains, beaches and fine weather, we’d need to do something more far more radical, like legalizing prostitution, pot-smoking and brawls.
    Since we’re not quite ready to do that, I’d suggest we pin our hopes on creating opportunities for real economic development, such as raising our educational system up from it’s current near bottom position, so companies will come here for a first-class work force, building a law enforcement system that’s both fair and effective, so people will feel safe living here, and a government that’s more than a pack of salesmen marketing influence. Not an instant solution, I know, but one that will last.
    Yes, Kansas has an image problem, but that image to some extent reflects the reality, and no amount of P.R. is going to fix it. We need to go much deeper to get the results Kansans deserve.

  3. D Collins
    Posted June 24, 2005 at 7:13 pm | Permalink

    “A casino “would bring money and prosperity to the area” What a joke. Just like Atlantic City. Have any of you seen the blight one block off Casino row?
    Try again Randy. This dog don’t hunt.

  4. Joe Williams
    Posted June 24, 2005 at 8:39 pm | Permalink

    Atlantic City is a ghetto beyond belief. I would never go there again. A friend of my in NYC took me there when I was visiting him in NY. I will never take him up on the offer. I never gambled either. He just wanted to show me what it was like.

    Pretty sad! Even the employees don’t even go into Atlantic City. There is huge parking lots about 10 miles out of town and that is where they park and they just shuttle bus in.

    I’ve never seen so much blight, begging, pan-handling, and vagerances in my life.

  5. D Collins
    Posted June 25, 2005 at 8:46 am | Permalink

    21st and Broadway is old but a lot better than AC. Downtown is a bit better. But given a casino, both would soon resemble AC.
    At least Park Citys’ ghetto would be mostly new construction, trailer courts and have the BTK tourist attraction.

  6. Dennis Towner
    Posted June 25, 2005 at 11:08 pm | Permalink

    You know folks if you travel to any city, and I mean a real city, you will find in ALL of them areas of high crime, with gang bangers, hookers and drug dealers. You know, SLUMS. One of the WORST areas in our nation is three blocks from our nations capital, for pete’s sake. So, please quit trying to blame the existance of a casino for problem areas that were already there before the casinos moved in. If you think that casinos are so very evil, go talk to the folks who live around White Cloud.