New Jersey residents lament announced closure of Asbury Park’s casino building
The building has sat vacant for years, but many use part of it to get from Ocean Grove to Asbury Park.
The iconic Asbury Park Casino building is closed until further notice.
The building has sat vacant for years, but many use part of it to get from Ocean Grove to Asbury Park.
"We come here once a year, so we don't see it every day. We get snapshots of Asbury, so we've seen Asbury develop into this beautiful town and that's part of it. Walking through there and seeing the new art, listening to the new musician of the day. So I was disappointed to see that it was closed,” says visitor Matt Stoner.
Rachel is a server at the restaurant The Break. She says closing the Casino can be a safety issue.
"It's just not conducive for people to walk home in the service industry. Anybody has to get off work late at night and also some people who just like to run at night or walk their dogs at night,” she says. "Some of the safer areas would be like going on the boardwalk or Cookman and you know, you're kind of like impeding a major throughway for people to get around safely.”
Visitors also say that Asbury Park’s history needs to be preserved.
"We need to preserve the historic car to Asbury so we can enjoy it and the people that come after us can know what Asbury was like and enjoy it as well,” says Stoner.
Real estate developer Madison Marquette announced that more information would soon be provided about the closure.
“After a scheduled inspection of the casino building arcade, we have made the difficult decision to close that passthrough temporarily,” the developer said.
The casino building, located at the southern end of the boardwalk, has been around since the 1920s.
Madison Marquette says access between Asbury Park and Ocean Grove at the moment will be along the Wesley Lake promenade and the Wesley Lake bridge. If anyone has questions, they can call 732-897-6500.
