Atlantic City Mayor Untroubled By Shore Town's Troubled Casino Industry
By David Madden
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- The shutdown of the Showboat casino-hotel in Atlantic City, announced for the end of August (see related stories), will mean the loss of more than 2,000 jobs, not to mention a tax ratable for the city itself.
But Atlantic City mayor Don Guardian doesn't seem all that worried about it.
This is Guardian's first year in office. And he has, he says, a four-year plan that he insists will turn the city back into the destination resort it was before the casinos arrived.
And he views vacant buildings, like the Showboat is expected to be, as opportunities.
"You're never going to find more facilities offered at a lower price for investors," he told KYW Newsradio today, "so I'm really looking for those developers and investors that are creative, that have vision, and are able to make a go of it."
He expects someone will buy the foundering Revel casino, on the boardwalk's northern end, before early August, when owners there suggest they might shut down as well (another related story).