HURON NEWSLETTER May 29, 1998

Kansas City Star http://www.kcstar.com
By: JOHN T. DAUNER Staff Writer
Date: 05/29/98

The Woodlands' creditors have asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Kansas City, Kan., to clear the way immediately for sale of the property to the highest bidder.

Motions were filed Wednesday to convert the case from reorganization to liquidation and to seek an expedited hearing.

``It's time we either get the property or get paid,'' said William Grace, the principal creditor of the greyhound and horse racing facility in western Kansas City, Kan.

In May 1996, The Woodlands filed for reorganization under the bankruptcy court's protection. Last month, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John T. Flannagan rejected the track's proposal to emerge from bankruptcy in partnership with an Indian-operated casino. And last week, the judge declined to reconsider his ruling.

R. Scott Beeler, an attorney for The Woodlands, said the track would oppose the new motion and would appeal Flannagan's rejection of the racing facility's reorganization plan.

In the new motions, the creditors asked the judge to convert the case so a trustee can be appointed to operate the track while arranging for a sale by auction.

Conversion is faster and involves less litigation than asking the court to approve the creditors' reorganization plan. Either way, attorneys for the creditors said, the result would be the same - sale by auction. Grace, who owns or operates several gambling facilities in the Midwest, including the St. Jo Frontier Casino, holds about 85 percent of The Woodlands' $29.7 million mortgage debt.

If the track is sold at auction, Grace plans to take control of it by bidding the amount of his debt. Then, he said, he would continue greyhound and horse racing while trying to get approval for casino gambling.

Attempts in recent years to expand legalized gambling in Kansas beyond pari-mutuel racing and the lottery have been unsuccessful.

{Contributed by : Darren English, Wyandot Nation of Kansas}