Here’s How Some A.C. Casinos Are Sprucing Up for Summer

Tropicana is planning a light show on its boardwalk facade this summer, while Harrah's is finishing up a new conference enter.

Tropicana

Photo | Dan McQuade

We are just a few weeks away from the official start of the summer season down the shore, and Atlantic City’s (remaining) casinos are actually sprucing up a bit.

The Tropicana is undergoing a $50 million renovation, which includes the installation of massive video boards on the boardwalk side of the casino. The Trop plans a light show for the boardwalk.

The Trop is also renovating all 434 of its rooms in the North Tower, and installing a new bar called 10 North. The North end of the casino floor will also be completely redone by midsummer. The Trop is also opening a new health club.

Much of the renovations — excepting the hotel rooms — will be funded by the Casino Redevelopment Authority. The CDRA is investing $18.8 million.

Harrah’s continues work on its waterfront conference center, scheduled to be completed this August. The CDRA is investing $45 million in the conference center project. Caesars Entertainment, the casino’s parent company, announced yesterday it had booked the 2016 Meeting Professionals International convention. Yes, the new convention center’s first big booking is a meeting of professional convention planners. This is just too meta.

In a conference call yesterday, Atlantic City mayor Don Guardian said The Playground — Bart Blatstein’s plan for the old Pier Shops at Caesars — will open on July 4th. It won’t be fully completed. The Playground will be connected to Caesars, which owns the pier the current mall is on.

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