No, not Aria. That’s tomorrow. Today’s the first day of business for $48 million Boot Hill Casino & Resort, in Dodge City. Avionics firm (!) and relatively novice casino developer Butler National did what brand names Penn National Gaming, MGM Mirage, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Las Vegas Sands, Golden Gaming and Harrah’s Entertainment could not: obtain a Kansas casino license and open within the original timetable. (In a concession to the economy, Kansas has allowed total build-out to be postponed until late 2011.)
Congratulations to Butler for not knowing that it was doing the impossible. I’d quote Space: 1999 and say, “The impossible just takes a little bit longer,” except that Butler’s alacrity from start to finish disproved that maxim. Ladies and gentlemen of Butler, take a bow. And to think it was only a year ago that a bunch of fellers in white Stetsons broke ground on Boot Hill. Job well done.
