What’s New in Atlantic City:

Atlantic City has its groove on. Once equated with busloads of senior citizens headed to the slot parlors in shuffling masses, these days Atlantic City is, as the town’s new tagline proclaims, “always turned on.”  While gaming revenues have dipped in response to the opening of Philadelphia area slot parlors, Atlantic City still draws more than 35 million visitors a year to its seaside playground. 

It’s clear that the grand experiment that transformed the once-genteel honeymoon resort of Atlantic City into a gambling destination close to 30 years ago has picked up speed. While it’s true that no other gaming destination has the Atlantic Ocean and the boardwalk, Atlantic City can’t afford to rest on its laurels, especially with Native American casinos sprouting across the Northeast landscape and slot machines now paying off in Philadelphia and other key cities within driving distance. For Atlantic City to score as a high stakes player, changes had to be made,  which explains why the city’s public and private sector is in the middle of a building boom, investing big bucks into infrastructure and non gaming attractions all designed to provide new and compelling reasons for people to visit.

Getting to Atlantic City is easier than ever, thanks to a transportation center and direct Amtrak service from Philadelphia, and a visitor’s center at the end of the Atlantic City Expressway, where maps, brochures, reservations and the like are available.  A 500,000-square-foot convention center, larger than the one in Philadelphia, and until recent expansions, bigger than centers in Boston and D.C., has been a boon to the Atlantic City economy.  The state invested $90 million to convert the old Convention Hall, home to the Miss American pageant since 1940, into a state-of-the-art special events arena, the permanent home to both a minor hockey and football team and host to shows featuring the likes of Bette Midler, Simon & Garfunkel, Cher and Rod Stewart.

The 2003 opening of the billion-dollar Borgata Casino, which is already in expansion mode, upped the ante for the rest of Atlantic City’s 11 casinos. It used to be that shopping in Atlantic City meant deciding which kind of saltwater taffy to bring home. No more. The Tropicana’s Latin-themed Quarter includes 300,000 square feet of entertainment, an IMAX theater, high-end retail and restaurants.

And there’s more.  Caesars transformed the former Ocean One Mall on the boardwalk into The Pier at Caesars, a $140 million version of the Forum Shops in Vegas. The 200,000-square-foot, mixed-use project includes oceanfront dining and top designer emporiums representing the likes of Versace, Gucci, Hugo Boss and Armani. On the upper level, a diverse mix of restaurants includes Philly faves Buddakan and Continental. For a simply awesome view, have sushi at Souzai, which boasts full, unobstructed vistas of the ocean, beach and downtown Atlantic City out of floor to ceiling windows.

Harrah’s Atlantic City is in the middle of a $550 million expansion that includes new dining in the soon-to-open, 959-room, 44-story Waterfront Tower. The Waterfront Shops at Harrah’s retail promenade and The Pool, a 172,000-square-foot, 90-foot-high, dome-enclosed entertainment complex with $1 million of tropical horticulture, have added luster to the Marina property.

The Walk, an eight-block Michigan Avenue complex adjacent to the Convention Center, is a 300,000-square-foot mega mall featuring dining and entertainment along with big name shops like Ann Taylor, Coach, Liz Claiborne and Nautica.

The cleaning up of the boardwalk, once a virtual no-man’s land lined with schlock souvenir shops, is another improvement long overdue. New shops and restaurants have opened including Siganos Plaza at 1700 Boardwalk between Indiana Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The stores include the flagship two-story Opa Bar and some family attractions and casual eateries, including Wacky Bear Factory and Lo Presti Pizza.

The most visible change along the boardwalk is the addition of beach bars a few summers ago, after the longstanding ban against alcohol on the beach was repealed. Four of the oceanfront casinos have opened beach bars -- the Atlantic City Hilton, Bally’s Atlantic City, Trump Plaza and Caesars Atlantic City. All offer live entertainment, food and drinks into the wee hours of the night during the summer months.

If you haven’t been to this seaside gambling mecca in the past few years, make no mistake about it, things have changed. One visit and you’ll see that this isn’t your granny’s Atlantic City anymore.

For more information about Atlantic City, call 1-888-AC-VISIT (1-888-228-4748) or visit www.atlanticcitynj.com.

Beth D’Addono lives in Belmont Hills, PA.