Upgrades eyed for Atlantic City in state plan

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A dazzling Boardwalk pulsating with light, music, recreation and entertainment, surrounded by pedestrian-friendly enclaves away from the casinos is the vision of Atlantic City's future adopted Wednesday by a state agency tasked with turning around the struggling seaside resort.

And the world-famous Diving Horse that helped put Atlantic City's Boardwalk on the map may even return.

The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved a plan to revive Atlantic City. The newly empowered agency is tasked with carrying out Gov. Chris Christie's plan to turn around the nation's second-largest gambling market.

"A successful, vibrant Atlantic City is vital to the economic growth of both the regional and state economies," Christie said. "Exactly one year to the day of signing landmark legislation that established the Atlantic City Tourism District, we now have an ambitious, visionary road map that will transform Atlantic City and lead its comeback."

The plan aims to create pedestrian-centered attractions around the casinos, spruce up the Boardwalk and the Atlantic and Pacific avenue commercial districts. It also seeks to increase entertainment and recreational offerings, and make sure visitors feel safe in Atlantic City.

Christie wants to give the resort five years to improve before reconsidering whether to expand casino gambling to the Meadowlands and other areas of New Jersey.

The centerpiece of the plan is the revitalization of the entire length of Boardwalk, the first in the nation. It is designed to create a unique environment that can only be found in Atlantic City.

The beach side of the Boardwalk will host three entertainment venues — an open air concert shell, an animated interactive light show, and giant wind-driven sculpture. In between will be a series of corporate pavilions sponsored by entertainment and consumer product companies that will constantly change their offerings. There also will be lights, banners and street furniture that recall Atlantic City's historic past.

The owners of the Steel Pier said Wednesday they will try to bring back The Diving Horse, an attraction in which a horse plunged off the pier into a pool with a bathing beauty clinging to its neck.