Expanding Gardner's Basin part of A.C. revitalization plan

ATLANTIC CITY - In the shadow of the casinos lies Gardner's Basin - a quaint, fishing village-like swath in the city's Northeast Inlet that many consider a gem, one that's been hidden and underused for decades.

That's about to change as Atlantic City, faced with an uncertain economic future that must depend less on gambling, hopes an ambitious plan to transform Gardner's Basin into a destination like Baltimore's Inner Harbor will jump-start a revival.

"Everyone in Atlantic City knows that Gardner's Basin could really be something special," said longtime Northeast Inlet resident Frank Becktel, 43, who drives a jitney for a living. "But we've never had the necessity to make it happen. Until now."

Construction is expected to start in spring on work to make way for the Gardner's Basin expansion. It is an 18-month, $50 million project. The Army Corps of Engineers will cover $35 million to extend the Boardwalk to the basin for the first time since the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 damaged that section and will add a seawall along portions of the Boardwalk.

It's part of the city's bigger plan to redevelop the whole Northeast Inlet and restore what Mayor Don Guardian calls the "wow factor" to the Boardwalk.

Gardner's Basin is on city-owned land that totals about 22 acres. The existing tenants occupy about eight acres. They lease the buildings and pay the city rent. They include the Atlantic City Aquarium, which was built in 1999 and is open year-round. There are two restaurants, the Back Bay Ale House and Gilchrist. A third, Scales Grill & Deck Bar, was damaged in Hurricane Sandy and replaced with two food trucks.

About 10 mini-craft shops that are closed in winter and that reopen in May line a walkway to the aquarium. There's also a surf shop and art gallery, both open spring through fall.

Of the remaining 14 open acres, Guardian envisions adding up to a half-dozen dining establishments and at least 30 more craft and retail shops. He wants to expand and move the amphitheater that seats up to 5,000, enlarge the aquarium, and add a parking lot and a fishermen's park with shaded areas.

Targeted completion for the expansion is the end of 2016. The final price tag is yet to be determined. It depends, Guardian said, on who comes forward to be part of it. Requests for proposals will go out to developers in the first week of March.

Guardian said the cash-strapped city planned to lease or sell the open land to collect rent or property taxes.

"When we complete the Boardwalk, it will connect Ventnor all the way to Gardner's Basin," Elizabeth Terenik, director of Atlantic City Planning and Development, said. "Those who live down beach will be able to ride their bike all the way to Gardner's Basin and back. It's a quality-of-life and tourist issue."

Terenik said Gardner's Basin had been designated a redevelopment area, which means the city can adopt special zoning, approve tax abatements for projects that meet certain criteria, and select a redeveloper.

Atlantic City Council on Wednesday approved the Northeast Inlet redevelopment project, which includes the expansion of Gardner's Basin. It also approved expanding the Steel Pier to house a 205-foot-high Ferris wheel with enclosed, climate-controlled cars and a zip-line ride.

Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein will soon present his plans to recreate the Pier at Caesars, a failed high-end mall on the 50-yard line of the Boardwalk that sits atop the ocean about two miles from Gardner's Basin.

Four doors down from Caesars and farther north on the Boardwalk, Stockton University will open a new campus in the fall at the former Showboat casino.

All are part of Atlantic City's turning the page, or moving on, after four casinos closed last year and pared 8,000 jobs.

"With calamity, it brings everyone to the table," Guardian said. "Our intention is to round out the city way beyond just gaming."

Baltimore had to reinvent itself starting in the mid-1970s, when it lost its industrial base. Bethlehem Steel, General Motors, and others closed, taking with them thousands of jobs and bleeding the city of population, said David S. Cordish, chairman of the Cordish Cos., an entertainment and gaming-development enterprise.

The company has made its mark breathing new life into blighted, urban areas - "diamonds in the rough," as Cordish calls them.

Cordish Cos. took over dilapidated buildings and abandoned lots in St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., and created entertainment-retail districts. In 2002, it broke ground on Tanger Outlets at the Walk, an outlet mall that transformed eight decaying Atlantic City blocks. It now has more than 100 stores and is still expanding (a Bass Pro Shops opens in spring). The Walk linked the new Convention Center with the Boardwalk and gave conventioneers something to do besides gamble in their free time.

Cordish recently won the second and final gaming license for Philadelphia and is building a $425 million casino in South Philadelphia's stadium district with the owner of Parx.

The company has a major presence on and near Baltimore's Inner Harbor. In the mid-90s, it renovated a vacant, abandoned brick building on East Pratt Street now called the Power Plant that includes Phillips Seafood (formerly an ESPN Zone), a Hard Rock Cafe, and a Barnes & Noble. Then came Power Plant Live, a major entertainment and dining complex anchored by a free public plaza surrounded by restaurants, clubs, and other venues.

"Forty years ago or so, this entire area was blighted and crime-ridden streets," Cordish, 75, said as he pointed to a panoramic view of the Inner Harbor from his office windows on the sixth floor of the Power Plant, his company's headquarters. The former coal plant once provided electricity for the city's trolleys. Its four giant smokestacks are part of the Barnes & Noble bookstore.

The Maryland Science Center was the first structure built in the Inner Harbor and opened in 1976. Harborplace, a retail and dining venue housed in two buildings separated by an amphitheater, opened in 1980. The National Aquarium followed in 1981.

"Today, you have all these gleaming office buildings across the street," Cordish said. "Redevelopment then spread to the east and includes a 1,000-room Marriott and a Four Seasons. Residential communities, like Canton and Fells Point, developed farther to the east and spread south to an area known as Federal Hill."

Michael Haas, 38, of Towson, Md., a server at a downtown restaurant, said the Inner Harbor - which attracts 18 million visitors a year - "saved the city."

Cordish, who is considering partaking in the expansion of Gardner's Basin, sees a similar rebirth for Atlantic City.

"Why not?" he said. "It has similar assets. It has a great beach and Boardwalk. Atlantic City needs to become a more livable place, a resort destination plus industry and residential together, and where gaming is the icing on the cake. It can be done."

Downtown Baltimore opened the Horseshoe Casino, its first and only gambling hall, in late August, near Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

"The question is, 'Are people prepared for something different?' " said Mauri Sagney, 52, a housewife from Silver Spring, Md., who visits Atlantic City twice a year and who was strolling the Inner Harbor last week. "[Visitors] will have to be reeducated on what Atlantic City used to offer, which was only gambling, and where it is heading. It's good to offer the casinos on one end, and tranquillity and peace on the other."

Jijo Allapat, manager of the 323-room Baltimore Harbor Hotel, said 75 percent of his guests visit the Inner Harbor by foot or cab. "Absolutely, it adds to our tourism industry," he said. "It's a great place for a family outing."

Jack Keith, executive director of the Atlantic City Historical Waterfront Foundation Inc. - the nonprofit that manages Gardner's Basin - said the foundation supported the expansion.

He said Gardner's Basin had held its own even as the casino industry began its decline in 2007. About 260,000 visitors come each year, counting those who eat at the restaurants. It generated $1.1 million in revenue last year, with $1 million from aquarium-goers who paid an entrance fee.

"It's not a question of going commercial or noncommercial," Keith said. "It's about doing what is best for the city."

Jeff George owns and operates Atlantic City Cruises Inc., which offers boats for dolphin watching, cruises, and parties that depart from Gardner's Basin. He said the basin and the inlet section of Atlantic City were ready for prime time.

"This is its chance to finally shine," he said.