WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – The four proposals submitted for a southeast Kansas casino offer a sharp contrast of approaches to obtain the final license to operate a state-owned gambling facility.

Two of the applications are for larger, more expensive projects just feet from the Oklahoma and Missouri borders, while the other two propose more modest yet sizeable facilities 30 to 40 miles farther north, The Wichita Eagle reported.

Castle Rock Casino Resort in Cherokee County, the costliest at $145 million, would be less than a mile north of Interstate 44 and U.S. 400. It would feature a casino, hotel and restaurant, with the potential for an entertainment arena to be added in the future. At $140 million, a proposal by Southeast Kansas Casino Partners would place a casino on 123 acres along U.S. 400 and include a casino, hotels, equestrian center, a concert venue, restaurants, lake and retail shops.

Both would compete head-on with Downstream Casino Resort, a giant complex that sits across the Oklahoma state line and is owned by the Quapaw Tribe of northeastern Oklahoma. Late last year, the tribe got approval from the National Indian Gaming Commission to expand across the Kansas state line with a $15 million addition that would offer table games, such as craps and roulette, that are not allowed in Oklahoma. The Cherokee County Commission has formally voted to oppose such a move.

Quapaw Tribe chairman John Berrey said a direct competitor can’t beat Downstream Casino, and that the addition would allow it to offer all the games a Kansas casino can. Because Downstream is tribe-owned, it pays less in taxes, which he said means he can spend more to compete and still make the same profit.

The tribe backs a proposal for the Emerald City Casino Resort, a $110 million project that would be built on the site of the former Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac, north of Pittsburg. The casino would be run by a partnership of Phil Ruffin, owner of Wichita Greyhound Park, and Downstream Casino Resort.

The most modest of the four proposals is a $62 million facility, Kansas Crossing Casino, which would be built south of Pittsburg on land annexed into the city late last year. It would include a casino, restaurant, hotel and event center.

Kansas Lottery is studying the proposals. If approved, the proposals will be sent in April to the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board, which is expected to name a winner by the end of June.

Ken Coleman, of Southeast Kansas Casino Partners, said the best project for Kansas would pull most of its customers from a multi-state region so that nonresidents are putting tax dollars into Kansas’ coffers, he said.