Published on: November 26, 2024, 02:46h.
Last updated on: November 26, 2024, 02:53h.
Atlantic City casinos, including Ocean, Hard Rock, and Resorts located at the northern end of the Boardwalk, have expressed concerns about erosion of the sand outside their properties. Recently, the US Army Corps of Engineers has initiated a beach restoration project to address this issue.
In a recent development, the Army Corps awarded a $38.2 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company based in Houston to add 1.2 million cubic yards of sand (equivalent to 120K dump trucks) along Absecon Island’s beaches from Atlantic City to Longport.
Since the last sand restoration in 2020, casinos and their guests have observed a decrease in beach space. Travelers visiting the nine casino resorts during the summers of 2022, 2023, and 2024 noted a significant reduction in usable beach space.
Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts and the Casino Association of New Jersey, highlighted the impact of dwindling beach space on businesses in the area, stating, “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.”
Officials from the Army Corps attribute the need for more frequent sand replenishment in Atlantic City to climate change. The increased frequency of storms, attributed to climate change, has led to intense storm surges that erode the beach.
Challenges Faced by Atlantic City
The Atlantic City casino industry continues to face economic challenges, with a nearly 14% decline in gross operating profits for the nine properties collectively in the third quarter. Year-to-date profits in 2024 are down 9% from 2023.
Competition from new casinos in neighboring states, the regional gaming market, and the growth of online casino revenue in New Jersey have contributed to the decrease in profits and gaming revenue at traditional brick-and-mortar casinos.
The beach has long been considered one of Atlantic City’s greatest assets in maintaining its relevance in the East Coast gambling industry. However, the current state of the beach along the northern end of the Boardwalk paints a different picture.
The situation became so severe that Ocean Casino Resort expended over $600K in May 2023 to relocate nearly 13K tons of sand in front of its property.
Bill Callahan, General Manager of Ocean, emphasized the importance of having a beach for a resort, stating, “You can’t have a resort without a beach. That would be a horrible guest experience. It’s like, ‘Come to an unbelievable $2.5 billion resort and not have a beach.'”
Projected Completion in January
The Army Corps anticipates that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company will finish the Atlantic City beach restoration project in approximately two months.
The restoration process involves dredging sand from two designated borrow areas — one in Absecon Inlet and another in the Atlantic Ocean.
Apart from expanding the beach in front of Ocean, Hard Rock, and Resorts, the $38.2 million investment will include the restoration of dunes near Margate City and Longport, as well as the stabilization of beach access paths and dune crossovers. To mitigate further erosion, dune grass will be planted.