Will Atlantic City have a beach this summer?
That depends where at the Jersey Shore destination you’re talking about.
The beach near Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Sunday afternoon at high tide showed heavily eroded-sections a short stroll from the boardwalk. Just down south, in Ventnor, erosion has taken a toll on the shore too, federal officials reported.
Andrew Kramer, a local spokesman, said Thursday that Atlantic City officials were aware of the situation. He noted construction plans were being designed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a massive federal project — part of a nourishment that last poured sand on the shore there four years ago.
“We are awaiting approval of those plans and a construction date,” Kramer said in a statement.
Those reinforcements, however, may not come in time for summer.
Last week there were “Beach Access Closed” signs in several areas near Ocean Casino, Resorts and Hard Rock.
The city is not alone in its battle with Mother Nature.
Several beaches at the Jersey Shore — namely in Avalon and Sea Isle City — are currently working to bring in more sand before the summer gets here. Others like North Wildwood and Brigantine are in a similar boat to Atlantic City and continue to wait for word from federal and state project engineers.
Spokespeople at Hard Rock said Monday afternoon the casino was making repairs on its shores and working with the sand it had to get ready for the summer. The casino did not clarify further what that construction work entailed.
Absent a federal project, a sand replenishment won’t get conducted on-site, Hard Rock confirmed.
“We studied the tide chart and we realized that we will be able to have a ‘beach experience’ this year,” George Goldhoff, president of Hard Rock Atlantic City, said in a brief interview Monday. “And we don’t have to work from the Army Corps of Engineers’ schedule. Now, if they are able to have a beach replenishment well, that’s all the better. But we absolutely are underway with the beach preparations and we will have an experience this year.”
Goldhoff noted that Hard Rock had “not contemplated” spending its own money to bring in sand to bolster the beach further. Ocean Casino did that last year.
Officials at Hard Rock, which identified the issues on its slice of shore earlier this year, said the casino would not have a beach bar this year after heavy erosion and damage after harsh winter storms.
“We’ll have chaise lounges. We’ll have umbrellas for shade. People will have their feet in the sand,” he said, “and we’ll have beverage options for them as well.”
“We have a new venue that we’re opening. We call it ‘The Terrace’ and it’s located on the second floor,” Goldhoff added about the casino’s plans this year.
He shared that the event space was opening in response to the popularity of outdoor dining amid the COVID-19 pandemic and not because of a smaller beach below.
As for the federal work, Steve Rochette, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District, explained that the contract for the Absecon Island project was still in the works. That project area includes Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport.
Federal project managers said the contract will be advertised at the end of April and — with “favorable” bids — will be awarded in the “late summer timeframe.”
“(The) construction schedule would be coordinated after that,” Rochette said.
Taxpayers, whether state or federal, typically cover the bill for these projects. The Army Corps coordinates with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to carry them out periodically every two to four years depending on the area.
However, as has been the case in recent years, active winters and frequent storms have made it so towns and resorts need sand more often.
Time isn’t always on a beach’s side.
The last time Atlantic City benefited from a major sand replenishment was in 2020. That larger project cost more than $20 million.
Last summer, Ocean Casino for the first time used about $700,000 of its own money to truck in sand from a South Jersey quarry to replenish a beach there given delays in the Army Corps project.
Asked if it would take the same step this spring, resort officials Wednesday afternoon did not clarify.
“Ocean is hopeful and optimistic that the federal and state government will expedite Atlantic City’s beach replenishment project in time for our summer season,” Bill Callahan, general manager for Ocean Casino Resort, said in a statement provided by email.
“The beaches are a fundamental aspect of the North Beach experience,” Callahan continued, “and something that differentiate us from other resort destinations both on the east coast and throughout the country.”
