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Four of seven board members voted for Harrah's. Two voted for Marvel Gaming and one for Penn National Gaming.
Board Chairman Matt All said he felt two key considerations in the outcome were Harrah's higher revenue projections and what it offered in terms of the casino and ancillary facilities, such as a 175-room hotel and five restaurants.
Other commission members mentioned that its location at Mulvane was closer to the Wichita area.
The decision devastated some from Sumner County who had lobbied hard for a Wellington casino, including Shelley Hansel, executive director for the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.
"It's like losing a national championship," she said. "It sucks. It absolutely sucks and I'm not used to losing."
"For the first time in my life I can honestly say I'm ashamed to be a Kansan today."
Referring to lawsuits against the Harrah's project, Hansel said she guessed that she would be "old and gray and retired by the time any kind of casino is built in south central Kansas."
But supporters of the Mulvane site said they worked hard to have the casino located there.
"We had so many road blocks. We knew we had the best site, we knew we had the best proposal -- Wellington wanted it for Wellington. They didn't want it for the state of Kansas," said Linda Parker of Mulvane, dressed in a green and gold Harrah's T-shirt.
Harrah's spokesperson Jacqueline Peterson said the company was thrilled with the vote. In a written statement, Chuck Atwood, vice chairman of the Harrah's board of directors, said, "We look forward to expanding our support group for this project and working closely with the city of Mulvane, Sumner County and the Kansas State Lottery to bring this project to fruition."
Harrah's plans a $535 million casino resort at the Kansas Turnpike interchange near Mulvane, including a residential and retail addition across the turnpike.
Planned amenities include a 175-room hotel at the casino, five restaurants -- one by Food Network star Paula Deen --an outdoor amphitheater, convention and conference venues and an 18-hole golf course.
The resort will take 24 months to construct, the project's developers have said.
Consultants estimate first-year revenue for Harrah's at $186.5 million, with Harrah paying 22 percent of its first $300 million of revenue to the state. The percentage go up as revenues increases to a maximum of 30 percent for revenues above $500 million.
The consultants' estimates were lower than the applicants in every case, and Harrah's estimated its first year revenues at $206 million.
Consultants estimated Marvel's first-year revenue at $132.6 million and Penn's at $123 million.
Harrah's now must clear a background check by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, which could take months.
"The most important thing is to get it done correctly than quickly," said Stephen Martino, the commission's executive director.
The plan also faces legal challenges.
Sumner County has sued over the annexation method Mulvane used to link the city to the site.
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation this week sued to stop the project, alleging Harrah's violated a noncompete clause in its contract after terminating an agreement to manage the tribe's casino in Mayetta.
Harrah's, considered the largest casino company in the world as measured by total annual revenue, owns or manages 49 casinos.
Sumner Gaming and Resorts is a Topeka real estate development company.
By Fred Mann and Jeannine Koranda. Contributing: The Associated Press
To see more of The Wichita Eagle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansas.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Wichita Eagle, Kan. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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