Oklahoma tribe wants to bring casino to Douglas County

The Delaware Tribe of American Indians, based in Bartlesville, Okla., is negotiating to buy about 80 acres of farmland near the airport for the project, Chief Dee Ketchum said Tuesday.

The entertainment complex would employ as many as 1,800 people and have room for 4,000 guests, Ketchum said. Profits would be channeled into education programs for the tribe's 10,500 members, including 400 families in Kansas.

However, the tribe would have to obtain the U.S. Interior Department's approval to use the land for a casino, then negotiate a compact with Gov. Bill Graves. A compact between Graves and the tribe would require the Legislature's approval as well.

Earlier this month, tribal officials met with Graves to review the regulatory process.

"It's a long process," said Don Brown, the governor's spokesman. "We're at the starting point and right now I don't think anyone can clearly determine where the finish line is."

The proposed casino and conference complex already is drawing fire from would-be neighbors.

The critics include Kelvin Heck, a Lawrence realtor whose two out-of-state cousins own the 80-acre field being considered for development. Heck's cousins have indicated they are willing go sell the land.

"I don't think that the casino brings anything positive to Lawrence," he said. "It doesn't seem like a logical situation to me at all. If it went away tonight I'd be a happy camper."

Four tribes with long-established reservations in Kansas - the Iowa, Kickapoo, Prairie Band Potawatomie and Sac and Fox - already operate casinos on their land.

Other tribes, including the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, have sought to develop casinos in the Kansas City area and elsewhere but those plans have died or remain mired in federal courts.

Ketchum doesn't expect his tribe's efforts to meet the same fate.

From 1830 to 1867, the Delaware tribe lived on a 2-million-acre reservation in northeast Kansas, from the edge of Topeka to the Wyandotte County line, including Douglas County.

"We're looking to repurchase some of our old reservation," he said. "We're prepared to build a first-class facility that the state and city would be very proud of."

The tribe also envisions bringing entertainers from Branson, Mo., and establishing an "all tribes" museum would offer a place for education and historical materials.

"Even if it went smooth, it's a two-year project at best, if not more," Ketchum said.

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