Portion of AC Pier to Be Demolished

State environmental officials plan to demolish a dilapidated section of a landmark pier in Atlantic City and use the material in a nearby reef.

The Department of Environmental Protection says the pilings on the back end of the Garden Pier will be demolished this month. That will produce about 6,000 cubic yards of concrete that will be sunk and added to the Great Egg Reef, which is about eight nautical miles away.

Officials say that should provide a home for mussels, barnacles and eventually sea bass and other fish, as well as enhancing drift fishing within the reef site.

The pier's front end is not slated for demolition.

Located at the Boardwalk and New Jersey Avenue, the pier has housed the Atlantic City Historical Museum and the Atlantic City Arts Center in recent years. But it's been damaged by storms and has been shut down numerous times recently, mostly for safety inspections and to repair damage sustained in storms.

The pier was built in 1912, and the city has owned it since 1944. A ballroom that once stood at the end of the pier was washed away in a hurricane several months after the city took ownership.