Questions loom about site of world’s first “airport”...

October 2006

The question will dominate the landscape for the next year: What is the future of Bader Field?

Will it be a playground for the rich and famous and Steve Wynn's friends?

Will it be a trendy condo/hotel with breathtaking views of the Atlantic City bay skyline?

Will it be a recreational playground where Atlantic City tries to make a statement that it is not just an adult playground?

And if Bader Field is developed, what will become of the Flyers Skate Zone and Bernie Robbins Stadium, two CRDA projects that were buiilt by significant CRDA dollars? So many questions...so much speculation.

And it is all very muddied by the fact that Bader Field and its future was part of the bait used by Federal prosecutors in Operation Steal Pier, an operation which has not yet run its course.

According to some local sources, the fact that Bader Field was used as a plum to lure in corrupt local officials and developers could stagnate anything that happens at Bader Field in the near future.

Certainly, the only thing that is certain is that the land is worth lots and lots of money; maybe as much as $1 billion. But what happens to the land could be crucial to the future of Atlantic City as it attempts to rid itself of being just a 24-hour day-trip resort. And despite the spin of the ultimate spin doctors, Atlantic City remains a drive-in, drive out after maybe 18 hours, kind of town.

If you have any doubts about that, just check out the report released by the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority two years ago, which still stands as the definitive measuring stick of what the city really is until somebody comes up with something else.

More questions...

The autumn lineup at Boardwalk Hall is boffo box office, but what will happen in the winter when there is still no hockey team or permanent tenant to call Boardwalk Hall home? The people who predicted that a hockey team would be here now were dead wrong. Maybe nobody actually believed how much money George Shinn actually lost with the Boardwalk Bullies. The Hall will just have to make its way through the winter until the Atlantic 10 Conference postseason basketball tournament lands there in early March. And Temple sources have told The Insider that Temple's basketball team will play at Boardwalk Hall on Dec. 9th against Cincinnati.

Boardwalk Hall officials had hoped to have Villanova play as part of a doubleheader, but the Wildcats insistence on playing a low-calibre type of opponent soured things somewhat. Temple played North Carolina State and Kansas at the Hall in the ‘80s prior to the $90 million CRDA facelift.

Shoprite LPGA has new date...

Overheard on the streets of Atlantc City: The ShopRite LPGA Classic has a new date that will result in it being held near the end of August as a prelude to the Labor Day weekend. Remember that the women's golf tourament lost its previous date in late June due to being muscled out by another tournament with plenty of LPGA muscle and a national television contract.

More to come..

Summer success depends on whom you ask...

So what kind of season was it for the Jersey Shore? Well it depends on whom you asked. Some boardwalk merchants in Ocean City said it was great while others said it was not so great. All agreed, however, that good autumnal weather could enhance everybody's outlook.

“There were less people here this summer... no doubt about it,” said one of the arcade operators on the Ocean City Boardwalk. "They come on weekends but they don't come for a full week or two like they used to. It just doesn't happen anymore."

The Insider is written by a prominent local business person who chooses to remain anonymous at this time. The opinions and news bites are that of The Insider and do not necessarily reflect the positions or views of this magazine, it's staff, or its publisher.