PITTSBURG, Kan. — Several high-level positions at Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel have been filled, and the focus is now shifting to the hiring of mid-level management and operations staff, a casino spokesman said last week.

Directors of marketing, information technology, facilities and security, and human resources have all been hired, Garion Masterson said. Some director positions remain open, he said, but the casino's main priority has shifted to an upcoming job fair for table game dealers.

The casino's first dealer-school sessions will begin in early January in order to complete training for the $80 million project's targeted March 2017 opening date.

Masterson said individuals training for dealer positions will require extensive training to learn multiple table games, but previous experience is not required.

"It is fairly intensive," he said. "It’s a few weeks of time, and it’s a commitment, for sure."

A job fair for dealers is set for Dec. 5 at the Lincoln Center, 710 W. Ninth St., in Pittsburg. There will be two sessions, one from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and another from 4 to 7 p.m. Potential applicants should attend one of the sessions to apply for a dealer position.

Kansas Crossing will employ 300 people when all jobs are filled, and the casino is also hiring floor managers, beverage and concession workers, as well as working to find vendors to provide those services in the casino.

"We’re really getting to the point where we’re hiring the whole place," Masterson said.

Construction has continued on schedule since Kansas Crossing held a beam-signing ceremony in August to celebrate the installation of the final piece of the building's steel frame. Masterson said the expected March opening is still the target and work is on track to be finished by then. The fall's mild weather has prevented any construction delays, and much of the remaining work is internal.

"The big things are in place," Masterson said. "Now we’re kind of putting in the smaller things that we need to get this place running. So that’s networking, internal things, starting to build out things on the inside."

Work on Kansas Crossing began in July 2015 but was halted temporarily that September after Cherokee County and a company that proposed a casino in that county filed lawsuits regarding how the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission chose Kansas Crossing for a contract.

Castle Rock Casino Resort, the competing project, and Cherokee County were denied requests for an injunction to block Kansas Crossing’s construction, but litigation remains pending. Castle Rock proposed a $145 million project that was to be more than twice the size of Kansas Crossing.

Kansas Crossing

Located at the northwest corner of U.S. highways 160 and 69, Kansas Crossing will offer 625 slot machines and 16 gaming tables; it estimates 500,000 visitors per year.