ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Booze on the beach, long a no-no because of safety concerns, will be served up beginning this month in a move cheered by casinos but jeered by some locals.
Casino regulators signed off Wednesday on plans by three gambling houses to open beach bars this summer, offering liquor, food and live music to sunbathers and gamblers.
Trump Plaza, Caesars Atlantic City and the Atlantic City Hilton _ which had already obtained city approval _ won permission from the state Casino Control Commission to begin serving alcohol on the beach on a regular basis, from noon to 10 p.m.
Booze on the beach was banned for years here because of fears that drunken swimmers and sunbathers would pose a threat to their safety and that of others.
For two years, casinos have been able to obtain special event permits to sell alcohol on the beach, but the concessions were temporary.
Now, they are building decks and gazebos and planning to offer alcohol, music, dancing and food. Customers won't be allowed to take alcohol onto the Boardwalk or off the bar site, but critics say that may be difficult to enforce.
"We're going all-out. It'll be a full-service bar with a full array of spirits in a cash bar open to the public," said Frank Freedman, vice president of food and beverage at Trump Plaza, which plans to open a "Beach Bar at Trump Plaza."
The bars will operate weekends until late June, then seven days a week until mid-September.
Similar offerings are planned at neighboring Caesars Atlantic City, where 20 cocktail tables and 90 chairs will be installed, and down the Boardwalk at the Atlantic City Hilton, where a Beach Club will offer 21 tables and 12 barstools.
"It gives us an amenity that's been requested by our guests," said Redenia Gilliam Mosee, senior vice president of government relations for Park Place Entertainment Corp., which runs the Hilton and Caesars. "It makes us competitive with other resorts, like Myrtle Beach (S.C.)."
The casinos must provide security and fencing around the bar areas, to protect patrons and liquor storage facilities.
Cathy Burke, owner of the Irish Pub, who unsuccessfully lobbied City Council to keep the alcohol ban in place, called the move a mistake.
She said the presence of beach bars would hurt her business, and said casinos were doing it to compete with The Borgata, a new casino scheduled to open this summer in the marina district.
"For years, they ignored the beach. They didn't want people to know we had a beach and an ocean and they did everything they could to discourage people from using them, building walkways to eliminate pedestrian traffic because they're so paranoid about keeping people within their four walls.
"Now, they're scared to death of The Borgata and they're going to use the beach, which the city gave them for nothing, as a transparent marketing tool," she said.
Ten years ago, Burke and her husband spent $850,000 to acquire a dilapidated building next door and demolished it to build a patio bar annex for the Irish Pub.
Now, Burke says, the bar will lose business to beach bars run by casinos.
"No matter how beautiful it is, how can we compete with the natural resources of the beach and Boardwalk?" she said.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--casinos-beachbars0507may07,0,7058534.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
Casino regulators signed off Wednesday on plans by three gambling houses to open beach bars this summer, offering liquor, food and live music to sunbathers and gamblers.
Trump Plaza, Caesars Atlantic City and the Atlantic City Hilton _ which had already obtained city approval _ won permission from the state Casino Control Commission to begin serving alcohol on the beach on a regular basis, from noon to 10 p.m.
Booze on the beach was banned for years here because of fears that drunken swimmers and sunbathers would pose a threat to their safety and that of others.
For two years, casinos have been able to obtain special event permits to sell alcohol on the beach, but the concessions were temporary.
Now, they are building decks and gazebos and planning to offer alcohol, music, dancing and food. Customers won't be allowed to take alcohol onto the Boardwalk or off the bar site, but critics say that may be difficult to enforce.
"We're going all-out. It'll be a full-service bar with a full array of spirits in a cash bar open to the public," said Frank Freedman, vice president of food and beverage at Trump Plaza, which plans to open a "Beach Bar at Trump Plaza."
The bars will operate weekends until late June, then seven days a week until mid-September.
Similar offerings are planned at neighboring Caesars Atlantic City, where 20 cocktail tables and 90 chairs will be installed, and down the Boardwalk at the Atlantic City Hilton, where a Beach Club will offer 21 tables and 12 barstools.
"It gives us an amenity that's been requested by our guests," said Redenia Gilliam Mosee, senior vice president of government relations for Park Place Entertainment Corp., which runs the Hilton and Caesars. "It makes us competitive with other resorts, like Myrtle Beach (S.C.)."
The casinos must provide security and fencing around the bar areas, to protect patrons and liquor storage facilities.
Cathy Burke, owner of the Irish Pub, who unsuccessfully lobbied City Council to keep the alcohol ban in place, called the move a mistake.
She said the presence of beach bars would hurt her business, and said casinos were doing it to compete with The Borgata, a new casino scheduled to open this summer in the marina district.
"For years, they ignored the beach. They didn't want people to know we had a beach and an ocean and they did everything they could to discourage people from using them, building walkways to eliminate pedestrian traffic because they're so paranoid about keeping people within their four walls.
"Now, they're scared to death of The Borgata and they're going to use the beach, which the city gave them for nothing, as a transparent marketing tool," she said.
Ten years ago, Burke and her husband spent $850,000 to acquire a dilapidated building next door and demolished it to build a patio bar annex for the Irish Pub.
Now, Burke says, the bar will lose business to beach bars run by casinos.
"No matter how beautiful it is, how can we compete with the natural resources of the beach and Boardwalk?" she said.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--casinos-beachbars0507may07,0,7058534.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
