No A/C in AC

No A/C in AC: Atlantic City Casinos Lose Their Cooling

Weekend visitors to Atlantic City this weekend might feel like they’re on a hot streak, regardless of their success at the blackjack table.

Air conditioning systems failed Thursday at a pair of Atlantic City casinos, the town’s famed entertainment center and a shopping center. The disruption has sent city and casino officials scrambling to find a way to cool their customers, though officials say systems may not return to normal until Monday.

The outage, stemming from a cold water pipe that began failing earlier in the week, came as weekend temperatures head into the 90s.

Mark Juliano, chief executive of Trump Entertainment Resorts, whose Trump Plaza casino lost air conditioning Thursday, said “it could be a tough weekend [for business], because it will be hot. Wasn’t unbearable [Thursday], but it looks like it will be hotter Saturday and Sunday.” Casino staffers were providing cold water bottles and running a slew of fans in the facility for gamblers who stayed despite the heat.

A variety show slated to take place at Trump Plaza Thursday night was canceled because of the problem, and a dinner introducing a new menu at Caesars Atlantic City, the other affected casino, also was called off. Boardwalk Hall, the city’s renowned entertainment center, experienced outages as well.

The problem comes during the city’s peak season, and imperils desperately needed gambling and tourism revenues. Atlantic City has been bruised by the recent expansion of gaming in the region, particularly in Pennsylvania. The market saw a steep decrease in casino revenues in 2009 — a 13% drop, or $600 million loss.

Most analysts believe the second half of 2010 will bring more challenges to Atlantic City. Pennsylvania and Delaware casinos just introduced table games like blackjack and roulette, offerings that put their gambling options on par with New Jersey’s. Additionally, Philadelphia’s first casino, the SugarHouse, is slated to open in September.

David Weiss, the chief executive of Pepco Energy Services, which owns the broken water line, gave no indication during a press conference as to when the line might be fixed. He said at least 30 emergency chiller trucks would be coming to the area to provide cool air to the affected properties.

Meanwhile, other groups are working to relocate events to venues with air conditioning. Boardwalk Hall general manager Greg Tosone said officials were trying to move the final day of a youth dance show somewhere else Friday. “It’s not sweltering, but you know the dancers are going to be feeling more than the rest of us because they’re moving so much,” said Tosone.

He said officials there “lucked out” that there weren’t any major shows booked for this weekend at the venue. Earlier this month, Lady Gaga performed there. “That would have a more difficult situation,” he said.