Vandals, seagulls and the elements have done a number on Atlantic City's Sandcastle stadium, which hasn't had a baseball team for two years.
Now the city is planning a $300,000 facelift for the dilapidated stadium so it can be used for concerts and festivals.
The City Council voted Wednesday night to reallocate money from a previous bond ordinance to make the repairs. The Press of Atlantic City reported that the needed work includes fixing the sprinkler system, sprucing up the infield, and repairing graffiti and damage done to seats and luxury boxes by vandals, squatters and drug users.
“There's been a number of people asking for concerts and other types of events. We want to take advantage of that,” says G. Bruce Ward, the city's lead attorney.
First up will be a security system to prevent unauthorized access to the stadium, which used to house the Atlantic City Surf of the independent Atlantic League. The team folded in 2009.
The most serious trouble began when its pipes were not winterized when the Surf vacated the ballpark. The city continues to insist that winterizing the pipes was the responsibility of the team.
The stadium, which was most recently called Bernie Robbins Stadium, needed significant repairs even before that. The City Council appropriated half a million dollars for some repairs in May 2008, but the city's legal staff stopped the move when an internal report said that the Surf's management was responsible for them.
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Council President William “Speedy” Marsh is confident the money allocated by City Council on Wednesday will be enough.
“We'll start low and then go from there. We want to first see if this can do the trick,” says Marsh.
Atlantic City is planning to host concerts and other community events at the stadium this summer. Mayor Lorenzo Langford has promised an announcement soon regarding “a major concert” at the stadium or nearby Bader Field, the former airport site adjacent to the stadium.
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