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February 22, 2010

Tribe may open casino in Park City by end of year



WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A tribal casino could open in Park City by the end of this year, an official with the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma says.

That would be well ahead of a state-owned casino in Sumner County.

Billy Friend, second chief of the tribe, said he learned recently that the tribe's application to have the U.S. Department of the Interior put its 10.5 acres in Park City into trust for gambling purposes could be approved within 30 days.

"If everything happened just right — which doesn't happen very often with government — the best-case scenario, you'd like to be open around Christmas," Friend said.

The application, which has been pending in the Interior Department since January 2009, has been signed by the department's solicitor and awaits the signature of Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, Larry Echo Hawk, he said.

After that, the application would have to be approved by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, which would largely be a formality, Friend said.

There would be a 30-day period for comment and appeal before the land officially is in trust.

Friend said the tribe could start turning dirt at the site in April or May. It probably would open a $20 million to $30 million Class II, or bingo-style, casino with 1,000 to 1,200 slot machines and a small restaurant.

Developers of the Chisholm Creek Casino Resort in Sumner County have planned a first-phase $125 million facility with 1,300 slots and 40 gaming tables operating under Class III, or Las Vegas-style, rules.

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