Flurry of Plans Would Transform Atlantic City

The Press of Atlantic City published an article by John V. Santore in November outlining a number of positive prospects for the city. Here is part of what John reported:

Amid a week of major announcements concerning the future of Atlantic City, business and government leaders at a conference Friday outlined an array of major projects they said would transform the city’s facades, functionality, and future.

Declaring the Boardwalk to be Atlantic City’s gem, Mayor Don Guardian said he wants to restore the “wow factor” that defined the strip decades ago. He emphasized existing improvements to its amenities and cleanliness, and said a new group of Class II police officers will be deployed to enhance an already improving security situation.

Guardian said construction will begin next spring on a $35 million project to build a protective seawall on the city’s north shore and extend the Boardwalk to Gardner’s Basin for the first time since 1944. The project is set to be completed by the end of 2016, he said. Twenty-two acres in Gardner’s Basin itself will be transformed with restaurants and shops brought into a development zone equal in size to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

The mayor touted Richard Stockton College’s planned expansion into the former Showboat Casino Hotel, opening the city to the research and development industries and making it more desirable to young professionals.

Tony Rodio, CEO and president of Tropicana Casino and Resort, outlined $35 million in additions and renovations to the property, including a massive Boardwalk light show set to debut by Memorial Day. A video mockup showed Tropicana’s facade covered in both low- and high-definition screens, with visuals accentuated by music, lit palm trees and a row of searchlights.

Steel Pier owner Anthony Catanoso said his property has undergone $23 million in renovations since 2012, adding 14 new rides. Catanoso said ride revenue increased 20 percent this year over 2013, with revenue from games, food and beverages up 40 percent over the same period.

Catanoso said the pier’s planned observation wheel will take as many as 50,000 riders a month 220 feet above the city in Wi-Fi-enabled gondolas. He also emphasized the pier’s family appeal.

“We need to start transitioning from a gaming town that has family attractions to a family attraction destination that offers gaming,” he said.

You can read the entire article at pressofatlanticcity.com.