--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "dfsavgny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Didn't Asbury
> Partners promise (at the Dec 15 council meeting) that the arcade
> through the Casino would be opened in April? Have they started work
> on that yet? How do you sell a $1 million condo overlooking the
> crumbling Casino? I know I am repeating myself but am I wrong that
> we still have no financial guarantee that the Casino will be
> restored? Werner, we have to do something to ensure that it is
> fixed and the rest of our historic assets do not go the way of the
> wrecking ball. Where is the work on the pavillons? As of Sunday,
> they look the same to me. Is that what we are getting?
I have always said that restoration of the Casino is the key to
bringing the beachfront back to life. It is the gateway to Asbury
Park from all the communities south of us. Its condition presents not
only a physical barrier but a psycological one as well.
Repairs should have started 4 years ago as a condition of receiving
the redevelopment rights with the City holding a long term lease. The
Federal Historic Preservation tax credit program of 20% should have
been used as tool in the process. Ultimately the Casino would have
been placed on the National Register.
The pavilions are a similar situation where a perceived liability
should have been turned into an asset. Instead of selling what will
ultimately be the most valuable piece of real estate in the City, the
beachfront should have been leased with specific conditions regarding
repairs.
I fear that most interested people in Asbury Park do not realize that
THEIR property has been sold off from under them. The Con Hall,
Casino, Pavilions, etc., were owned by the tax payers. City founder
Bradleys transfer of that property to the City stipulated public use
in perpetuity.
The sale of those properties raises serious public trust issues in my
mind and under private ownership the facilities now look worse than
they did 4 years ago.
Werner
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