A historic fixture along Atlantic City\u2019s Boardwalk is getting a major makeover.<\/p>\n
A new attraction on Garden Pier is expected to open within the next couple of weeks, offering visitors a beach experience above the sand in an area that has long struggled with severe erosion.<\/p>\n
Even at low tide, the stretch of sand in front of Showboat Resort can feel cramped.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt high tide, this beach don\u2019t exist,\u201d Jazmen Blackwell of Atlantic City said.<\/p>\n
Severe erosion has been an ongoing problem along this section of Atlantic City\u2019s beach. In response, Showboat Resort owner Bart Blatstein is transforming the back half of Garden Pier into a beach club.<\/p>\n
This spring, demolition crews tore down a building on the more than century-old pier. The structure had been vacant before Blatstein purchased Garden Pier in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole pier situation is definitely a challenge, um, you know, this is a very specific demo job where there’s weight restrictions,\u201d said Zack Power of SJ Hauck Construction.<\/p>\n
Blatstein said the demolished building had no historical significance.<\/p>\n
The beach club is expected to feature turf, lounge chairs and cabanas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will have all the conveniences of being on the beach, but not being in the sand or worrying about the high tide,\u201d Blatstein said.<\/p>\n
The Boardwalk in front of Showboat also recently expanded. Blatstein paid to widen the Boardwalk by 16 feet, creating additional space for games, vendors and other attractions in an area that previously had few of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boardwalk in Atlantic City is our Main Street. And to make it more walkable, you need attractions, you need food and beverage,\u201d Blatstein said.<\/p>\n
Blatstein said general access to the beach club will be free, though visitors will have to pay for premium amenities, including cabanas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very different,\u201d Blackwell said.<\/p>\n
The beach club is not the only new attraction on the north end of the Boardwalk. A dinosaur-themed attraction has also opened outside Showboat, adding to a growing list of entertainment options for visitors this summer.<\/p>\n
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A historic fixture along Atlantic City\u2019s Boardwalk is getting a major makeover. A new attraction on Garden Pier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14733,915,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-212819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-atlantic-county","tag-new-jersey","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}