How beach erosion in US casino city has 3 big gambling resorts begging for sand
- Atlantic City’s three northernmost casinos are pressing for the expedition of a beach replenishment project that was supposed to have been undertaken in 2023
- Most beach entrances spanning the three casinos just dead-end in mid-air, with drop-offs that could cause serious injury or worse, one executive says
The ocean and beaches have always been a part of Atlantic City’s identity: from salt water taffy to Miss America bathing beauties to the name of the place itself, the city in the US state of New Jersey has been marketed as a place to have fun by the sea.
But there is a little too much Atlantic in Atlantic City this year, as the crucial summer season approaches. Weeks of winter storms have eroded beaches in the northern section of town, leaving little if any sand on which to play during all but the lowest tides.
Executives with the three northernmost casinos – the Ocean Casino Resort, Resorts Casino Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – are pressing the federal and state governments to expedite a beach replenishment project that was supposed to have been undertaken in 2023.
But under the current best-case scenario, new sand won’t be hitting the beaches until late summer, according to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that oversees such projects.
And that has the casinos concerned about not having an essential element of their tourism appeal. Atlantic City has long said its beaches set it apart from the plentiful gambling options elsewhere in the region and the country. Without them, it could be a harder sell in attracting tourists and gamblers.
