Posted on: November 26, 2024, 02:46h.
Last updated on: November 26, 2024, 02:53h.
Atlantic City casinos, specifically Ocean, Hard Rock, and Resorts on the northern end of the Boardwalk, have been complaining that the sand outside their resorts is eroding. This week, in what’s a better late than never scenario, the US Army Corps of Engineers finally began work to restore the beaches.
Earlier this month, the Army Corps awarded a $38.2 million contract to Houston-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company to place 1.2 million cubic yards of sand — the equivalent of 120K dump trucks — onto Absecon Island’s beaches from Atlantic City to Longport.
Casinos and their many resort guests have complained since the last sand restoration in 2020 that beach space has dwindled. During the 2022, 2023, and 2024 summers, the busiest time of the year for the nine casino resorts, travelers said there was too little space to spread their blankets and chairs, as the beach has continuously shrunk.
You have thousands of people here on a nice summer day and there’s no beach for them to go on. It affects every business from the largest casino to the smallest pizzeria,” Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts and the Casino Association of New Jersey, told the Associated Press.
Atlantic City’s beach has required more frequent sand replenishment because of climate change, officials with the Army Corps say. More frequent storms blamed on climate change have resulted in intense storm surges that poach sand from the beach banks.
Less Atlantic in Atlantic City
The Atlantic City casino industry continues to face economic headwinds. Gross operating profits for the nine properties collectively declined almost 14% in the third quarter. Through three quarters of 2024, industry profits are down 9% from 2023.
Competition from new casinos in neighboring and regional states, along with New Jersey’s roaring iGaming market where online casino revenue continues to poach into legacy play, have been blamed for the brick-and-mortar profit and gaming revenue drops.
Atlantic City’s greatest asset in keeping the East Coast gambling capital relevant amid great change in the national gaming industry has long been considered its beach. But that beach is only a shell of its former self along the northern end of the Boardwalk.
Things got so bad that Ocean Casino Resort in May 2023 spent more than $600K to move almost 13K tons of sand in front of its towering blue resort.
“You can’t have a resort without a beach,” said Ocean General Manager Bill Callahan. “That would be a horrible guest experience. It’s like, ‘Come to an unbelievable $2.5 billion resort and not have a beach.’”
January Completion
The Army Corps expects Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company to complete the Atlantic City sand restoration in about two months.
The process involves dredging the sand from two designated borrow areas, one in Absecon Inlet and another in the Atlantic Ocean.
Along with widening the beach in front of Ocean, Hard Rock, and Resorts, the $38.2 million investment will see dunes restored near Margate City and Longport, and beach access paths and dune crossovers restabilized. To slow further erosion, dunes grass will be planted.
