Borgata To Replace Concert Venue With An Outdoor Pool Complex

The Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City is the biggest casino in Atlantic City in terms of gross gaming revenue.

The casino has had to implement a number of new strategies during the last couple of years to deal with the struggling gambling market in Atlantic City.

The casino has continued to make changes in 2016 by recently announcing that it plans to replace its existing concert venue with an outdoor pool in hopes of improving its revenues.

Borgata’s concert venue, the Festival Park has a capacity to host 5000 people and only recently opened to the public in June 2015. Since then some well known bands and artists have played at the Festival Park including Southside Johnny, Willie Nelson and The Killers.

However the occasional use and the limited potential to generate revenue has led to Borgata’s decision to build an outdoor pool in place of the Festival Park.

Under the new plan, there will be a 3,200 square feet outdoor swimming pool along with cabanas, a DJ booth, concrete pool deck and a 2,500 square-foot building for food and beverage operations and restrooms. Developing this new facility will enable the resort to serve about 1,150 hotel guests from Borgata’s main hotel tower who currently do not have access to an outdoor pool.

In a statement, Joe Lupo, Borgata senior vice-president of operations said,

The occasional concerts simply did not provide us a profitable option. Now our 2,000-room hotel tower will be able to provide an outdoor option. An outdoor summer amenity seven days a week, we feel, will be very advantageous.

The Borgata has three indoor pools – the Pool and Gardens in the main tower, the lap pool in the Immersion Spa and an indoor pool at the Water Club tower but just one outdoor pool at their Water Club. The casino has approached Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) for approval to build the new pool at the site of the Festival Park. The CRDA is responsible for land-use in Atlantic City’s Tourism District.

CRDA Executive Director John Palmieri has said that the casino will need to approach the board for a formal approval in March, at which point in time the board will consider the plan and its impact.

The Borgata casino is confident that it will receive approval and has already taken down the 24,000 square feet main stage at Festival Park in readiness for moving forward with the proposal.