Posted on Sat, Sep. 06, 2003
KCK casino lacks fire sprinklers and occupancy limits
By RICK ALM
The Kansas City Star
There are no fire sprinklers or occupancy limits at the 7th Street Casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan., and government officials fear the place could be a firetrap.
Because the downtown gambling parlor is on sovereign tribal land, city officials can only watch as customers head inside day and night to play 152 slot machines.
Business has been brisk since the casino opened a week ago. A lunch-hour crowd Friday numbered more than 80 players.
"It's a ticklish and difficult situation," said Kansas City, Kan., Fire Marshal Ed Gripp. "We've had firefighters interested in going in" to do advance work to be prepared for an emergency.
"But I've been instructed to stay off the premises until something is ironed out."
Mayor Carol Marinovich of the Unified Board of Commissioners of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., said Friday that the city was drafting a letter to the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma expressing its concern over fire safety.
"There are issues over there about fire exits, capacity and so forth," she said. "We feel it is our responsibility to advise them."
The casino sits on a small plot of land owned by the Oklahoma tribe. Over state officials' objections, a U.S. Interior Department decision earlier this year granted de facto reservation status to the land, which paved the way for federally approved tribal gambling. The state has sued the federal government to overturn the decision.
As long as the land is a tribal reservation, city fire codes and state statutes have little or no effect.
The tribe has proposed cash payments in exchange for municipal services, presumably including fire protection. But tribal and city officials would not disclose details of the proposal.
City officials have endorsed the tribe's plan to build a casino resort hotel near Kansas Speedway and have a services agreement pending for that deal, which so far has failed to win necessary state or congressional approval.
The city is staunchly opposed to the downtown casino across the street from City Hall, and Marinovich has said she won't consider a services agreement with the tribe for that site.
The day the casino opened last week, city workers blockaded access to a vacant strip of land the tribe had been using for employee parking.
The National Indian Gaming Commission has regulated tribal casinos for the Interior Department since 1988. The first set of public health and safety guidelines for tribal casinos were issued last summer.
Those rules, however, leave it to the tribes to devise standards ensuring that "gaming operations on Indian lands are constructed, operated and maintained in a manner that adequately protects the environment, public health and safety."
The chairman of the Indian Gaming Commission, Phil Hogen, said Friday that investigators were involved in inspecting the casino to determine whether the tribe met all federal conditions for opening -- including its own fire safety standards.
"We're playing catch-up," said Hogen. "It did come as a surprise to us that they opened as suddenly as they did."
At this point, one week after the casino's unannounced opening, "we don't know all of the answers to all of the questions we are interested in," Hogen added.
He hopes investigators will issue preliminary findings next week. Hogen noted that the commission has the authority to temporarily close facilities in the event of any "imminent jeopardy" to property or human life.
Gripp said city fire codes generally require sprinklers in any public area 5,000 square feet or larger.
The casino's general manager, Ellis Enyart, estimated the casino's gaming floor right at 5,000 square feet, and the city agreed.
"We believe it is 5,000 feet, and we believe it probably should be sprinklered," said Unified Government attorney Hal Walker. "You'd think they'd want to avoid any potential catastrophe."
Enyart said tribal officials were well aware of fire safety issues in the casino and were working on remedies. Enyart declined to discuss specifics.
In the meantime, Enyart said, casino security officers have been instructed to monitor occupancy levels.
"We try to keep it to a minimum," said Enyart. "If it seems to be getting too crowded, they control the size of the crowd coming in and going out."
Enyart said he would have no problem with a visit from the city fire marshal's office.
"They can certainly come and visit us," said Enyart. "We have no objection to them coming on the property and having a look around."
To reach Rick Alm, call (816) 234-4785 or send e-mail to
ralm@kcstar.com.
If anyone exploits the "Elderly" it's the church. "Give your last penny to help spread the word of Jesus Christ!" Why should an elderly person feel that they need to give their last coin to ensure themselves a spot in Heaven? Only a fraction of the money donated to churches goes towards helping the sick and needy. Much of it goes towards church expansion, building Mega-churches (like the one on 135th & Pflumm in your Olathe), pastor/reverend salaries and to spread the word of Christ. Meanwhile, you have a large portion of the $300 million from casinos going towards schools in Missouri. Of course that's if the Missouri Gaming Commisson isn't pocketing a hefty bulk of that the money (Bill Kenney seems to be livin' larger and larger each year). Jus' remember, people can abuse or over-do anything...kinda like the way we keep spendin' our grocery money on wildlife charities.
Hopefully those primitive state Conservatives won't stop it!