Having grown up on Long Island and been a 'rail-rat' at Central Mall of Jones Beach during my youth, I have to comment on how ridiculous it is to propose that the Stone Pony could be like the Jones Beach Theater.
Jones Beach State Park is 10,000 acres of mostly wilderness with the Theater being 2.8 miles from the nearest residential development. The capacity of the Theater is 15,000. This remote location makes an open-air venue of that magnitude possible. Clearly Asbury Park and its surroundings have nothing in common with Jones Beach other than fronting on the Atlantic Ocean. I suspect the comparison was prompted by a document that the Committee reviewed proposing recommendations for the redevelopment of Asbury Park after the damage caused by the Hurricane of 1944. The connection being, that the consulting team was but together by Robert Moses, the planner of Jones Beach. However, bathing and recreation were the focus of that effort. In any case the Stone Pony is a mere 500 feet from the nearest residential property and the Casino is likewise 750 feet. In addition the Casino Arena capacity is clearly limited both in its present form as a bare concrete pad or as a rebuilt facility. By comparison, Convention Hall's capacity is 3.500 with the floor being standing room general admission. I suspect a rebuilt Casino Arena would be on par with that due to similar size, perhaps a bit less actually. The Jones Beach Theater is a very inappropriate model for Asbury Park. However we do have our own unique facilities to capitalize upon - The Stone Pony, Convention Hall, Paramount Theater, Casino Carousel House and hopefully a reconstructed Casino Arena. (I'll even throw in the Wonder Bar due to uniqueness:-) Those are the character defining features that make Asbury Park what it is and should be embraced as the core of any entertainment / heritage tourism development. Werner ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: asburypark-dig...@yahoogroups.com asburypark-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: asburypark-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/