| Brett Collier reporter |

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat could soon be coming to Southeast Kansas.
Phil Ruffin, owner of the vacant Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac, has partnered with the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma to bring a casino to the area, where Camptown sits now.
Camptown Park has sat vacant for nearly 20 years, after being open for only six months in 1995. The park closed down and filed for bankruptcy in 1996.
If approved by the Kansas State Lottery Commission, the park could be set on the fast track to being rebuilt and transformed into a casino, but an exact opening date has yet to be determined.
Ruffin, who also owns the Las Vegas Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, says he is looking forward to partnering with the Quapaw Tribe to bring the casino to the area.
“I have long admired Quapaw Chairman John Berrey and the tribe for their remarkable success in our region with their Downstream Casino Resort, and for their good will and strength in community partnerships,” Ruffin was quoted as saying in a press release. “They know how to get things done. I know how to get things done. This is a strong partnership.”
The Quapaw Tribe has been successful with the operation of Downstream Casino Resort, which sits on the Kansas-Missouri-Oklahoma state line.
Berrey, Quapaw chairman, says partnering with Ruffin is the best move to bring the casino to the area.
“This is a very positive force for bringing new jobs and new economic opportunities to the communities of Southeast Kansas,” he said. “Partnering with Kansas native Mr. Ruffin makes a lot of sense. And we know that Camptown can be a great success for the region, the local community and its citizens.”
Unlike Oklahoma, the legal gambling age in Kansas is 21 and the opening of a casino so close to Pittsburg is sure to have some sort of impact on the students of PSU.
Colter Purdon, freshman in construction engineering technology, says he sees positives and negatives to the opening. Ultimately, he believes it would benefit the area.
“It would give us something else to do,” he said. “It would give students at the university, as well as other people in the area, a different form of entertainment and it would bring a lot of money to the area. The only downside I could see is students hanging out there too much and wasting money, but overall I think it would be a good thing.”
Other students, like Halle Cybulski, say the bad outweighs the good.
“I can see people spending a lot of money there,” Cybulski, freshman in psychology, said. “As college kids, we don’t have a lot of money to begin with, and gambling it away would just make things worse. It could bring some publicity to the town and Pitt State, but I just can’t see it being successful, especially when it would be competing with a casino like Downstream that’s right down the road.”