The owner of the Showboat resort in Atlantic City proposes converting a surface parking lot across Pacific Avenue into a temporary 143,000-square-foot multi-purpose event center that would accommodate about 2,000 spectators.
Bart Blatstein’s Showboat REN I LLC of Philadelphia is scheduled to appear before the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority on October 1 at 10 a.m. seeking preliminary and final site plan approval and variance relief for parking. The project is in the CRDA Tourism District.
The event center would operate for six months, from January through June in 2027. The developer projects 30 events, filling 56 weekend days and five weekdays.
Designed for flexible, multi-purpose use, the event center’s “convertible flat floor supports a wide range of programming – expos, conventions, trade shows, banquets, meetings, concerts, community and cultural gatherings and athletic events such as court and mat sports, tournaments, camps, and clinics,” according to Showboat’s application.
Athletic events may include basketball and volleyball tournaments, showcases, leagues, camps, and clinics; cheer, dance, wrestling, martial arts, pickleball, and other court and mat sports, the developer wrote. Food and beverages will be sold on site, but the food will be prepared elsewhere.
Because the structure fronting 800 Atlantic Avenue is temporary, no permanent excavation or utility modification is needed, the application notes. Thirty restrooms would be in three trailers.
A temporary aluminum frame with a vinyl membrane envelope would cover the center of the parking lot. Plans from Eventstar Structures of Miami show three structures inside the center. The company specializes in temporary structures.
The 209,013-square-foot parking lot converted to the event center is bounded by Atlantic, Delaware, Pacific, and Maryland avenues.
No new parking for the event center is proposed, and vehicles will be served by existing Showboat parking, the application notes. Total parking in the resort system is 2,695 spaces.
“It is designed to draw event attendees, exhibitors, and visiting families into the surrounding resort and Boardwalk tourism district,” the application said of the center.
