The Loggia and the View at the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall

Salut fellow cultural landscape scholars!

My first cultural landscape is in Atlantic City on the coast of New Jersey, USA. This building is the old Atlantic City Convention Hall, now called Boardwalk Hall, built in 1929 in the Roman Revival and Art Deco styles. Boardwalk Hall is a listed National Historic Landmark (a level above the National Register of Historic Places, connoting national significance and a high level of integrity). The photo shows the granite and cast stone loggia in front of the ballroom of the hall. It overlooks the boardwalk and ocean. You are seeing a stage in its evolution back to its original state.

Developer Donald Trump just removed a horrid steel and glass corridor that he built through this loggia between two of his casinos on either side of the hall in 1984. Fortunately there was an easement that required him to remove it if he ever removed one casino, which he did (hurray!). I was here to survey the damage to historic fabric from this construction and by Trump's demolition contractor. I am now preparing construction documents for restoration to be done by a qualified preservation contractor. I work part-time for the Hall's preservation architect, Watson & Henry Associates.

From the statement of significance, it is "The remaining edifice that best recalls the city's historic heyday as a seaside resort. Is the largest structure on the Boardwalk and is significant in the history of large-span structures, containing, when it was built, the largest room with an unobstructed view and the largest pipe organ in the world. Is also the scene of America's greatest pageants, the Miss America Contest." After a $90 million restoration of the auditorium beginning in 1998, it resumed its historic use as a venue for concerts and other events. In fact, Elton John just performed here. The auditorium organ was "the biggest and loudest musical instrument ever constructed," and will also be restored. See http://www.boardwalkpipes.com/index.php for more.

Here is the view from the loggia down the boardwalk and beach. Atlantic City has been a seaside resort since the 19th century, its growth spurred by a train connection to Philadelphia built in 1854. You see the beach (one of few free beaches in New Jersey), a protective grassy dune, and the boardwalk (originally built to help keep sand out of hotel lobbies).

The awesome column capitals are called "Abyssinian Revival." What do you think?






For more about the Hall see http://www.boardwalkhall.com/history.asp

Janet Sheridan