Atlantic Club Casino Hotel | |
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Atlantic Club viewed from the beach, when it was Hilton
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Location | Atlantic City, New Jersey |
Address | Boston Avenue and the Boardwalk |
Opening date | December 12, 1980 |
Closing date | January 13, 2014 |
Theme | Beach Resort |
No. of rooms | 801 |
Total gaming space | 75,374 sq ft (7,002.5 m2) |
Signature attractions | The Beach Bar |
Notable restaurants | Patsy's Italian Restaurant Simon AC |
Casino type | Land-based |
Owner | TJM Properties |
Previous names | ACH Casino Resort Atlantic City Hilton Bally's Grand Golden Nugget |
Renovated in | 1997, 2012 |
The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, formerly known as Golden Nugget, Bally's Grand, Atlantic City Hilton and ACH, was a casino and hotel located at the southern end of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, owned and operated by Colony Capital. It was the city's first and only "locals casino". The Atlantic Club permanently closed on January 13, 2014, at 12:01 AM. largely as a result of dwindling casino visitors to Atlantic City due to increased competition in neighboring states. A third of Atlantic City's boardwalk casinos closed the same year, the others being Revel, Trump Plaza, and Showboat. Redevelopment proposals include a water park.
On November 6, 2013, Atlantic Club owner (Resorts International Holdings, owned by Colony Capital) filed for bankruptcy 11 protection and a source revealed to the Wall Street Journal that a bankruptcy sale would occur. On December 23, 2013, Federal Bankruptcy Judge Gloria M. Burns approved the sale of Atlantic Club to Caesars Entertainment Corporation and Tropicana Entertainment. Tropicana acquired the gaming equipment and the data records of customers from Atlantic Club. Caesars acquired the Real estate and non-gaming assets. Caesars indicated that the closure is by its current owner, Colony Capital. This returned ownership of the property to Caesars Entertainment, which sold it nine years before to Colony Capital as part of its acquisition by Harrah's Entertainment.
The Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino was built in 1980 by a partnership of Golden Nugget Companies and Michael R. Milken for $140 million. Steve Wynn bought the Strand Motel on Boston Avenue and the Boardwalk for $8.5 million and tore it down. Joel Bergman, who designed Wynn's other resorts, designed the Golden Nugget. It was Atlantic City's sixth casino after legalized gambling was passed in 1976. It had 506 rooms and at the time was the second smallest casino in the city. By 1983 it was the city's top earning casino. Its entertainment in the 500-seat Opera House included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dolly Parton, Lou Rawls and Don Rickles. Advertisements featured Wynn, including one where he delivered towels to Sinatra.