Atlantic City Boardwalk Committee Notes, Nov. 18, 2015

• Two  9 ft. LED screens are being installed in Boardwalk Hall Lobby for advertising and to give an ‘entertainment feel’.
• Grid installation inside the hall is moving along
• Sound and lighting system in Ballroom hit a snag, but now is moving along.

• Justin Beiber July 15th – Pre sale Monday.  Second show might be added. 6500 tickets already sold .
• Kevin Hart – New Year’s Eve/Dec.31
• Urban Show – Feb. 15
• June 29 to July 3 – Circus de Soleil
• Rodeo – November 2016
• Charitable Deck the Halls Event – December 4–January 2 

The Board reviewed and approved the City of Atlantic City’s redevelopment plan for Brighton Park, bounded by the Boardwalk, South Indiana Avenue and Park Place. This plan will seek to activate the park for a variety of events and provide for its on-going maintenance through a lease agreement with the Claridge Hotel.

The Board also approved an amendment to the Borgata Nightclub Expansion Project agreement providing an additional five months to complete construction of the project. Borgata now has until May 1, 2016 to complete the remaining work. The outdoor entertainment portion of the project, dubbed “Festival Park”, officially opened on June 13.

The Board approved a fund reservation in the amount of $20,000 towards 2015 Atlantic City Winter Wonderland holiday event on December 12, which is being undertaken in partnership with the City of Atlantic City and Bass Pro Shops. The approved funds will provide for games and rides, as well as activities such as sand art, holiday crafts, cookie decorating and books supplied by the Atlantic City Free Public Library.

The CRDA partnered with Greater Atlantic City Golf Association to host golf writer FAM from October 16 – 20 with several golf, restaurant and hotels partnering. Journalists included:

• Hank Gola (NYC) — Revered sports and golf journalist just retired from NY Daily News
• Brad King (Winston-Salem, NC) — PR host and contributor to The A Position, Triangle Golf Today and Triad Golf Today.
• Edward Schmidt (Orlando) — Top contributor to various meetings trades like Meetings Focus along with Golf Channel network of sites.  Posts on The Golf Travel Guru blog.
• Malcolm Smith (NYC) — Writer for African American Golfer’s Digest.
• Brian Weis (Wisconsin) — GolfTrips.com network of sites.
• Joel Zuckerman (Savannah, GA) — The Vagabond Golfer responsible for travel content for new National Car Rental golf web site. Contributes to Golf Channel network of sites and CBS Sports.

• There were 30% cuts this past year and services were still maintained ( Less cleaners and ambassadors, etc.)
• Flat budget for next year.  There will be a second reading in December and then it will be sent to the Governor for approval.
• Ambassadors are working a 20 hour week with health benefits this time of the year.

• 200,000 tram riders thru November.  Any changes need to go thru Department of Licensing and Inspections. 
• Wear and tear of the boardwalk is being monitored and checked where the tram operates.
• Advertising on trams being looked into as well as more trams to make device or profitable.
• Tram fees are still $2.00
• Revel submitted temporary boiler plans which were approved and are still sitting on contractor’s desk to be picked up
• Projected January settlement for the Endeavor project. (formerly the AC Club)

• Can CRDA reach out to fillers, etc., who might be interested in anchoring the shops next to Boardwalk Hall and other empty Boardwalk  areas ?
• Boardwalk needs to be promoted so convention people will visit when they are in town.  Who can do this ?
• Non casino events and arts events that are not tied to casinos need to be promoted.  Who can/will do this ?
• Image/Perception of the boardwalk and AC are still a problem.  Who is addressing this ?
• Can trams be utilized through the city like shuttling people from Convention Center /The Walk to the Boardwalk ?
• What/who will replace the ACA ? Is there an ACA ?
• Where is ACA money going since PILOT Program was conditionally vetoed ?
• Can the Mayor come to the December meeting?  How about Dennis Levinson, Chris Brown, Vince Mazzeo ?

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