Since it opened in 1929, Atlantic City’s Convention Hall, renamed Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in honor of the late mayor in 2017, the iconic venue has presented everything from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, to the Democratic National Convention and the Miss America Pageant.
Now approaching a century of operation, Boardwalk Hall continues to be fully booked with every type of event imaginable. In that convention business is the key to success in any city, especially a resort destination, Atlantic City’s powers-that-be decided, almost 30 years ago, that the city needed something more in terms of a convention facility.
In order to attract conventions from all over the world, it was decided that Atlantic City needed a brand new, state-of-the-art, large and flexible venue – with parking – in a location that’s easily accessible and surrounded by attractions like shopping, restaurants, a top-tier hotel, as well as public transit. The facility would be called the Atlantic City Convention Center. It opened on May 1, 1997.
Though it may not have the charm of Boardwalk Hall, the “new” convention center is bigger, more flexible and simply more attractive, at least in a functional sense, than “the original.”
The numbers speak for themselves. The 31-acre center, one of the largest in the East, includes 500,000 square feet of showroom space, five exhibit halls, 45 meeting rooms with 109,000 square feet of space, a garage with 1,400 parking spaces and a Sheraton Hotel.
The center was developed as a part of the city’s Gateway Redevelopment Project, which also included the Tanger Outlets, The Walk and the Grand Boulevard. The building opened with a connected Sheraton Hotel.
It cost $268 million to construct – $540 million in today’s market – and was designed by the Philadelphia planning firm of Wallace, Roberts and Todd, with the project headed by the company’s partner and senior architect, Gilbert Rosenthal.
In a 2022 column written by broadcaster Harry Hurley that celebrated the center’s 25th anniversary, Hurley detailed just how the center came about. “The Atlantic City Convention Center was a dynamic and ambitious project that was 20 years in the making, and was the vision of former New Jersey Sen. William L. Gormley,” Hurley wrote.
“Gormley was a human force of nature who successfully engineered and navigated the complicated labyrinth of both politics and finance. And both skill sets were required in order to bring to fruition the brand new construction of a state-of-the-art facility, featuring 500,000 square feet of contiguous space for meetings and conventions.
“The financing was made possible when former Gov. Jim Florio and Gormley worked effectively, in a bi-partisan manner to merge the convention center financing with a New Jersey Sports Authority and Exposition Authority bailout measure of that era.
“This fueled the dream for an Atlantic City Convention Center, by giving it the final push that was needed to gain the widespread legislative support that was required to make it happen. It enabled Atlantic City to be able to compete with all of the major jurisdictions around the country to attract elite meetings and convention business.”
What made Gormley’s financing program unique, according to Hurley, was that “not a single taxpayer dollar was spent to build the convention center.”
In a city where success stories can sometimes be hard to come by, a glance at 2026 conventions booked for the center thus far demonstrates that the convention center is one of those successes. Just some of the confabs booked for the new year include the Pool and Spa Show, New Jersey Music Educators Conference, Automatic Transmission Service Group, the Atlantic City Scuba Show, New Jersey School Boards Workshop and the Shore & Shore Festival Air Show. And that’s just a sampling.
The center is a major selling point for the city. As the Atlantic City Convention Bureau literature reads: “The Atlantic City Convention Center is located at 1 Convention Blvd., just a short drive away from close to one-third of the United States’ population and 20% of the business addresses in the United States. Its central location to so many people and businesses makes it a natural and convenient draw for conventioneers.”
But don’t forget Boardwalk Hall. It’s still busy, still thriving and still open for business.
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
