BonnerSprings.com

Edwardsville — Edwardsville residents on Monday got the opportunity to see details of one of two casinos proposed for their town.

The Sands Casino Group held an open house in the Edwardsville Community Center, with several representatives of Sands as well as the design and engineering companies working on the development.

The resort, estimated to cost $750 million, will consist of a 300-room hotel, a spa, and meeting and convention facilities.

The development is the second of two Edwardsville-sited casino proposals submitted to the state. The other is from Golden Gaming, for a $600 million 200-acre project that straddles the Edwardsville-Bonner Springs boundary, south of Interstate 70 on the east side of 110th Street. The Golden Gaming proposal includes an 18-hole golf course and a shopping and residential district.

Monday's meeting offered the first public glimpse of details of the development's plans, including traffic flow and possible sewer systems.

John Crossley, an attorney with law firm Blackwell Sanders, is representing the project.

"It seems like everybody's curious," Crossley said.

Questions centered on revenue and jobs, as well as other issues.

"An awful lot of people are paying attention to sewer," Crossley said.

Sassan Mahobian, an engineer with SK Design of Overland Park, answered questions about the sanitary sewer system for the project.

His firm designed two conceptS, one using a gravity sewer and another that relied on a force main. The gravity sewer is the preferable, he said, because "the whole area can be tied into it," thus opening up the nearby land for development, and the gravity sewer model also makes for much easier maintenance than is required for the pumps used with a force main.

"So far people are very supportive of the concept," said Andy Abboud, Sands vice president of government relations and community development.

Abboud pointed to one of the many placards on easels lining the community center's meeting room, which showed a bunch of smiling children.

Sands has supported local schools in Las Vegas, he said, including by giving funds to help schools fill the gaps between their funds and their needs.

As for Sands' chances of being the Wyandotte County casino to be chosen by the state out of four proposed, "I'm very optimistic," Abboud said. "I think we'll create more revenue, more jobs, more revenue for government than any proposal in Wyandotte County."

Edwardsville residents David and Cathy Donnell said they liked what they saw Monday.

"It's modern, sleek," David said of the building plans on display. "It's bring a lot of money to town."

"Hopefully it'll lower taxes," said Cathy.

The Sands proposal for Edwardsville was submitted to the state but never to the city before its deadline for casino proposals. Sands also has another proposal for a casino near Leavenworth Road and Interstate 435, although the Unified Government had previously rejected a zoning application for the site. The UG has asked Atty. Gen. Stephen Six whether it must rehear a zoning application should the casino proposal be approved by the state.