Dodge City ? When the frontier was still open, gambling helped draw cowboys and other visitors here.

These days, Dodge City depends heavily on nostalgia, drawing tens of thousands of tourists who want to relive a little of the Old West. But local officials hope gambling will be part of their community’s entertainment again soon.

“Who would not want to come gamble in Dodge City?” said Andy Stanton, director of the Dodge City Convention and Tourism Bureau.

Local tourism officials estimate that 100,000 people passed through the turnstiles at Boot Hill Museum last year, from all 50 states and 47 foreign nations. Visitors drank at the Longbranch Saloon, watched gunfights and read grave markers at the world-famous cemetery.

Gambling supporters said this week that a casino could bring five times as many visitors annually to a city where Wyatt Earp Boulevard is the main street.

“If Dodge City can’t capitalize on historical tourism, I don’t know who can,” said Bob Wetmore, president of the local economic development corporation.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has proposed an expansion of gambling to allow the state to own up to five large casinos. Her plan contemplates contracting with private developers to build and operate the casinos.

Jeff Thorpe, a banker who leads Boot Hill Gaming, a group that would seek a casino license, said gambling made sense in Dodge City, given its past and its current reliance on tourism.

He estimated a casino would collect about $54 million a year in gross revenues, create 300 full-time jobs and generate an annual payroll of more than $7.8 million.

“In Dodge City, you should be able to put your foot up on a brass rail and put a $5 chip on green felt,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe recognizes the potential negative social effects, such as bankruptcies and divorces, but thinks the positive economic effect on the community is far greater.

Wetmore, who also heads the chamber of commerce, said developing a casino was important for Dodge City because, “Our ability to land manufacturing jobs has gone away.”

“We used to have hundreds of leads a year from traditional industries,” he said. “Now there are literally dozens.”