ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- A 90-foot decorative lighthouse built
to spruce up the main entry to the city will be removed to make way
for retail stores.
The lighthouse, together with a cascading
fountain, faux boardwalk and 250-foot stone jetty, was erected in
1997 at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway as part of a
beautification project. The cost: $3 million.
Financed
by the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the
lighthouse contained a laser light mechanism and loudspeakers that _
for a time _ played music. But a pilots' group warned that the
lights could blind pilots landing at the nearby Bader Field
airstrip, and the laser lights were later turned off.
Others
questioned the wisdom of building a fake lighthouse and boardwalk in
a city that already had real versions of both mere blocks away.
"It didn't tie in from a marketing perspective, a historical
perspective or a theming perspective," said Frank Barbera, who owns
an Atlantic City real estate firm. "It had no purpose."
Curtis Bashaw, executive director of the CRDA, told The
Press of Atlantic City that a planned $80 million expansion of
retail outlets will force the removal of the Atlantic Avenue
lighthouse.
Bashaw said he has had preliminary discussions
about moving the lighthouse to Wildwood, where it might fit in with
that city's promotion of the so-called Doo-Wop architectural style.
___
Information from: The Press of Atlantic City,
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com
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