Delaware Tribe, Gillmann Group Start Land Into Trust Application With Bureau of Indian Affairs
April 22 2004 - 4:08PM
PR Newswire (US)
Delaware Tribe, Gillmann Group Start Land Into Trust Application
With Bureau of Indian Affairs Environmental Study, Economic Impact
Process Underway BONNER SPRINGS, Kan., April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Delaware Tribe and Las Vegas-based The Gillmann Group, who are
proposing to develop and manage a $225 million destination resort
and casino in Bonner Springs adjacent to the Kansas Speedway, have
started work on their land into trust application with the Bureau
of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. Placing the land into trust
for the Delaware Tribe by the BIA is one of the major elements in
the approval process required to build the resort/casino. The
Delaware Tribe, headquartered in Bartlesville, Okla., has 557
tribal members living in the State of Kansas. Members of the tribe
were the early founders of the City of Bonner Springs. The
environmental study for the 78.4-acre land parcel along Speedway
Blvd., south of State Ave., began this week and is the first step
in placing the land into trust for the tribe. The Gillmann Group,
which will develop and manage the resort/casino for the tribe,
finalized the purchase of the land parcel in mid-March. In addition
to the environmental study, the land into trust application also
requires economic impact studies, revenue distribution and
projection reports as well as employment and payroll projections. A
feasibility study prepared by KlasRobinson Q.E.D., one of the
country's foremost specialists in comprehensive market research for
hospitality and casino projects, said the Delaware/Gillmann project
could generate more than $260 million in annual gaming revenue in
its first full year of operation. It would be the first Kansas
tribal resort/casino that would contribute revenue to the State of
Kansas and to local governments. The Delaware Tribe is proposing to
share more than $11 million in the first year with local
governments and the state would receive more than $28 million that
first year. The resort/casino will provide 2,000 new jobs with a
projected payroll over $60 million annually and will generate over
$100 million in annual local spending. "Our resort and casino will
be a world-class tourist destination and an economic engine for
Bonner Springs, Wyandotte County and the State of Kansas. We have
the best location and plan for a destination center in Kansas and
are moving forward with our land into trust application. We also
have the land purchased and financing for the project is in place,"
said Fred Gillmann, chief executive officer of The Gillmann Group.
Gillmann also said that his company and the Delaware Tribe have
cooperated fully with the Unified Government on the project for
over two years, including moving from more than one land parcel
that did not fit into the master plan for the community. "We look
forward to continued cooperation with the UG, the City of Bonner
Springs, the Delaware Tribe and our goals to bring this destination
resort to the community." The resort/casino has a three-phase
master plan. In the first phase, the property will include a
15-story hotel tower with 250 upscale rooms and suites, a
148,500-square-foot casino, 3,000 slot machines, 90 table games and
a 750-seat bingo parlor. The resort will include an upscale
steakhouse, a 24-hour restaurant, a buffet, a food court and five
venues that include a sports bar, a deli and barbeque facility
combined with a cabaret, and three free-standing bars. A convention
facility will provide 70,000 square feet of meeting space that will
include a 2,700-seat showroom, meeting rooms and a boardroom.
Parking facilities will include 1,000 covered spaces, 2,400 open
spaces and 10 acres of oversized vehicle parking. The resort also
will have a health club and pool and will feature an automobile
museum for auto racing fans. Gillmann said construction of phase
one could take 18 to 24 months after the land is put into trust. He
said that of the phase one total project costs of $225 million,
over $100 million would be construction payroll and that union
labor will complete all work. Henry Tiblow, the founder of Bonner
Springs, was a Delaware Indian who was educated at the Shawnee
Mission and served as a translator for the Delaware and Wyandotte
tribes in the 1840s. The tribe, originally named the Lenni Lenape,
is headquartered in Bartlesville, Okla., and today has more than
10,000 members living in Kansas, Oklahoma, California and Texas.
The Delaware were one of the first tribes to come in contact with
Europeans in the 17th century and to sign a treaty with the United
States, which occurred in 1778. Originally located along the
Delaware River, the tribe was relocated westward beginning in 1829
and was pushed by the federal government through Ohio, Indiana,
Missouri, Kansas and finally to Oklahoma (Indian Territory) in
1867. But, the Bonner Springs area was the tribe's last recognized
reservation. Promised a distinct reservation of its own in Indian
Territory, the Delaware moved onto land purchased from the Cherokee
Nation and continued to operate their own tribal government and
social and religious functions. Controversy arose with the Cherokee
Nation that required litigation and eventually left the Delaware a
landless tribe. But, that designation ("landless Tribe") is now a
major factor in the Delaware's ability to return to their last
reservation (Bonner Springs) and seek property to be placed into
trust for the purpose of gaming. In 1996, the Delaware regained
their federal recognition from the BIA, a status confirmed by a
recent federal district court decision. Currently, the tribe is
nearing completion of a child-care center in Caney, Kan., and
operates child-care facilities in Nowata and Chelsea, both in
Oklahoma. The Gillmann Group, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev.,
specializes in the development, financing, construction and
management of tribal gaming enterprises. Founded in 1989, the
company's growth coincided with the expansion of Indian gaming in
the 1990s. The company's recent development projects include the
Laguna Development Corporation's Laguna Express Casino and Route 66
Casino, both in Albuquerque, N.M. Previous projects have included
the early phases of The Barona Casino in San Diego, Calif., The
Paiute Palace of the Bishop Paiute Tribe in Bishop, Calif.,
Susanville Indian Rancheria in Susanville, Calif., and the Robinson
Rancheria Casino and Table Mountain Casino, both in Northern
California. DATASOURCE: The Delaware Tribe; The Gillmann Group
CONTACT: Jack Taylor, +1-702-873-0249, or Stephanie Bethel,
+1-702-247-9437, both of Lund & Manasse Advertising, Ink., for
The Delaware Tribe and The Gillmann Group
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