How the Kansas Star Casino came together
After three rounds of bidding, the Mulvane casino opened in a temporary building in 2011 and its permanent home in 2012.
By Loretta Vance
The Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, half an hour up the road, took three tries to get started.
The state’s first round of bids for a Sumner County casino in 2008 picked Harrah’s, which withdrew during the financial crisis. A 2009 round drew three applicants, and all of them withdrew. A third round in April 2010 drew Harrah’s and Peninsula Gaming, both for Mulvane, and Global Gaming for Wellington. Harrah’s withdrew again, and Peninsula Gaming was picked in December 2010.
The casino opened in a temporary building on Dec. 26, 2011. A 150-room Hampton Inn followed in October 2012, and the permanent casino opened that December. The hotel grew to 300 rooms in 2014.
The temporary building did not go to waste. It became a 3,400-seat arena, opened with a Daughtry concert in June 2013.
Like the state’s other casinos, Kansas Star closed on March 17, 2020, because of COVID-19 and reopened with limits that May.