Atlantic City Residents Can Ice Skate For Free At Skate Zone

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Atlantic City residents can now ice skate for free at the Atlantic City Skate Zone. The city acquired the ice rink at Bader Field from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority earlier this year and the council passed an ordinance establishing free skating for residents during designated times. Residents can skate for free on Fridays and Sundays between 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm. More days will be announced, according to a recent city flyer. An ordinance set the public skate general admission price for non-residents at $10.

Around The Island Swim Relay Team Gets Ready For Aug. 9

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Last Sunday, four swim-capped heads bobbed in the West Canal, a section of Absecon Island’s bay that separates Ventnor Heights from the marshes that stretch toward Margate. The swimmers followed a boat and each trailed behind them a large, fluorescent-yellow float. Other water users may have wondered what the strange procession was about. 

The swimmers are local high school students and on Tuesday, August 9, they will form a relay team to take part in the Jim Whelan Open Water Festival’s signature event, the 56th Around The Island Swim. They are training to each swim a section of the 22.75 miles (36.6 kilometers) race around Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport. “We’ve been swimming all our lives, so it’s not really that different for us.

Sister Jean’s To Reopen For Hot Food

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Hot food will once again be on offer on Pennsylvania Avenue. Sister Jean’s Soup Kitchen, which closed three years ago, now has city approval to reopen in a new location on the same street, but further away from the beach and tourism district. Sister Jean’s moved into St Monica’s Church at 108 N Pennsylvania and has been operating as a food pantry, a closet that provides used clothing and the home to a large community garden run by Communities Revolutionizing Open Public Spaces (C.R.O.P.S.). According to the organization’s website, building work is being done at the church in order to open the kitchen, and, “Take out meals will be an option soon.” People connected to the organization did not respond to further questions about the planned reopening date. Sister Jean’s original location on the corner of Pennsylvania and Pacific Avenues closed in February, 2019.

Everything Else We’re Watching

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The Atlantic City Ballet canceled two shows in a row. An official at the ballet declined to comment about the cancellations when we sent an email. A performance of Carmen was canceled with two days’ notice last month and the March performance of a Midsummer Night’s Dream was canceled the day of the performance. Although comments were disabled on the ballet’s Facebook page, some dancers expressed their frustration with the cancelations on social media, commenting that they were also informed at the last minute. The ballet company was formed by Phyllis Papa in 1982.

Boraie Development Snaps Up Lots Next To 600 NoBe

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Boraie Development has paid $1.75 million for a series of lots next to its Atlantic City apartment complex, 600 NoBe. Wasseem Boraie said in an email that he bought it “just to clean up the area and fence it off so people don’t park cars there anymore,” adding that it “looks ridiculous next to our fully occupied beautiful 600 NOBE!” The newly-acquired lots sit to the Inlet side of the apartment complex. Boraie already owns the block to the Ventnor side of 600 NoBe, which is used for guest parking. The lots that Boraie bought in February make up a large fraction of the two half blocks on either side of Congress Avenue and between Pacific and Atlantic Avenues. They include an interest in the building (currently home to a barber salon) on the corner of Congress and Atlantic, but Boraie’s acquisition does not include South Inlet stalwart Mel’s Furniture.

Everything Else We’re Watching

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3301 Arctic, the red-brick former auto-service and barbershop building across from Sovereign Ave school, sold for $300,000 at the end of last year. It’s now available to rent and owned by a shell company named for the address and registered to Joseph Rodriguez of Williamstown. (Pictured)

School regionalization studies. The Department of Community Affairs is now accepting grant applications from school districts that want to consider merging with a neighboring district. The deadline to apply is the end of June.

Cannabis Dispensary To Replace Long Vacant Pizza And Pawn Shop?

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A woman-owned and pharmacist-operated cannabis dispensary called The Healing Side has filed an application to open behind Boardwalk Hall, in a building that was last occupied, 15 years ago, by a Papa John’s and a cash-for-gold shop. 

When might it open? It could still be a while. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority is (still) in charge of planning decisions in Atlantic City’s Tourism District. A CRDA official said a hearing was conducted on March 3 and the CRDA board is expected to vote on The Healing Side’s application at its April 19 meeting.Atlantic City has a dispensary (The Botanist) open to people who have a medical marijuana card. The city has also published rules that will govern cannabis businesses (everything from cultivators to wholesalers to distributors and retailers) in Atlantic City.

What We Are Watching

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Empty Lots Watch… Atlantic City’s newest redevelopment area is a small rectangle of land on Atlantic Avenue, between Mansion Avenue and the Vietnamese restaurant Com Ga Ninh Kieu. The city-owned property is vacant and used as parking space (see image below). According to the public notice, a conditional redeveloper (unnamed) was appointed. What’s the plan? I don’t know.

Aquarium Gets $1.3 Million Renovation, To Reopen In Fall🤞

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The Atlantic City Aquarium has been closed since…before the pandemic. But now—we have (some) news! The City of Atlantic City this month awarded a $1.3 million contract to Weatherby Construction for renovation work at the aquarium.The original plan was for visitors to be able to visit the aquarium this summer. But according to the renovation bid documents, the reopening date has been changed to November 1st.The Aquarium is getting a new roof, as well as having its electrical and HVAC systems replaced, new windows and floors installed, exhibit upgrades and a gift-shop revamp. These are the first major repairs at the site in more than 20 years, according to the Atlantic City Executive Council.

Grab-And-Go Gardens Pop Up In Atlantic City

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In the South Jersey suburbs, people are turning to gardening to relieve lockdown boredom and produce the fresh food that is in short supply in local stores. But what can you do in an impoverished city that is already classed as a food desert and that suffers from flooding, soil contamination and other gardening hazards?