Tropicana Casino Resort Atlantic City
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| Number of rooms | 2,125 | |
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| Theme | Old Havana | |
| Gaming space | 148,000ft² (14,000 m²) | |
| Permanent show(s) | ||
| Signature attraction(s) | The Quarter |
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| Notable restaurant(s) | Carmine's The Palm |
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| Owner | Aztar Corporation | |
| Date opened | November 23, 1981 | |
| Casino type | Land-Based | |
| Major renovation(s) | 1996, 2003 | |
| Previous name(s) | Tropworld | |
| Casino website | The Tropicana Atlantic City | |
The Tropicana Casino and Resort Atlantic City is a casino and hotel located at Brighton Avenue and the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned and operated by Aztar Corporation. Tropicana is, in part, the largest hotel in New Jersey, featuring 2,125 rooms, and is in part a 148,000 ft² (14,000 m²) casino.
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[edit] History
The Tropicana was the concept of the Ramada Inns Corporation in the 1980s. It was built on the former site of the Ambassador Hotel. After paying $20 million for the old Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City, the company released plans to renovate the property and convert it into a 546 room hotel and 60,000 square foot casino with amenities including a 1,200 seat dinner theater, 1,000 seat ballroom and other public facilties.
Executives at Ramada were forced to alter their plans when their design was denied approval by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission and Governor Brendan Byrne, both of whom had become tired of casino operators doing "patch and paint" jobs instead of building totally new properties, a main reason for the legalization of casinos in Atlantic City. Ramada was ordered to demolish the old building and start from the ground up, and the company threatened to appeal the decision in court. An agreement was finally reached between Ramada and the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to only use the steel framework of the Ambassador while changing the exterior appearance of the hotel. The ultimate result of these design changes was a two-year delay in the resorts opening as well as millions of dollars in cost overruns that pushed the final price tag of the resort to almost $400 million.
In order to take advantage of its recent purchase of the original Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Ramada officials decided to call their new property the Tropicana Atlantic City in order to capitalize on the recognizable name. The Tropicana Atlantic City officially opened on November 23, 1981 with 521 guest rooms and casino space. Shortly after opening a unique indoor amusement area called Tivoli Pier was built and within a year the name of the resort was changed to TropWorld Casino and Entertainment Resort.
In 1989, Ramada hotels spun off their gaming properties into the new Aztar Corporation.
Aztar has focused much of its capital investment projects on the Atlantic City Tropicana. In 1995 Aztar commenced construction of a new 604 room hotel tower as well as renovations to the existing rooms and casino space. Tivoli Pier was closed to make way for a new poker, keno and horse racing simulcast area, and the property reverted back to the old Tropicana name.
The company followed this expansion with another project completed in 2004 that added the 502 room Havana Tower, a new 2,400 space parking garage, 20,000 square feet of meeting and convention space and a new retail and restaurant venue. This project is called The Quarter at Tropicana and is designed in an old Havana theme meant to evoke images of that city. The goal of this project was to turn the Tropicana into an integrated casino resort reminiscent of the megaresorts built in Las Vegas during the 1990s. Aztar also timed this expansion to take advantage of the new interest in the Atlantic City casino market casued by the opening of the Borgata Resort in 2003
On October 30, 2003 the parking garage being built as part of the new Quarter project collapsed killing 4 people and seriously injuring 20 people, all of whom were construction workers.
In May of 2005 Aztar Corporation agreed to be acquired by the Columbia Sussex Corporation for $2.75 billion. It plans to continue current operations of the Tropicana. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission granted Columbia Sussex an Interim Authorization to operate the resort on November 3, 2006. The acquisition is expected to be concluded in December, upon which time Aztar will become Columbia Sussex's gaming subsidiary with all of its casino operations being merged into the firm.
[edit] Quarter at Tropicana
The Quarter at Tropicana is an open-air shopping mall adjecant to the resort.
[edit] Expansion
The current owner of Tropicana, Columbia Sussex, has announced plans to construct an additional 1,000 hotel rooms in a new tower to be designed as a "hotel-within-a-hotel", with a boutique feeling. This expansion would keep the Tropicana New Jersey's largest hotel at over 3,000 rooms.
[edit] Trivia
- The Tropicana Casino is one of the few places in the United States to display a statue of Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin, that is neither toppled-over nor headless.[1] This statue is at the entrance to Red Square, one of the restaurants in the Quarter.
[edit] References
- Gaming in Atlantic City article
- New Jersey Casino Control Commission approval of Aztar buyout
- Aztar Gaming Sale
