The
Claridge Joins Bally's To Create the
Largest Casino Resort in Atlantic City
ATLANTIC
CITY, NJ - The historic Claridge
Casino Hotel, a longtime Atlantic City landmark, formally
joined Bally's
Atlantic City as "The Claridge Tower" on Dec.
12, creating the largest casino resort in Atlantic City.
"This
merger completes the final phase of the strategic plan that
we put into place when we acquired the Claridge
in June 2001," said Park Place Entertainment President
and Chief Executive Officer Wallace R. Barr. "By joining
the Claridge
with Bally's,
we'll be able to create an even better experience for our guests
as we continue our efforts to realize significant
cost savings.
"In
the past year and a half," Barr added, "we have made
significant physical and operational improvements to the Claridge
Tower, including the installation of a re-designed, friendlier
casino floor and new high-speed elevators. Those efforts have
been very well received by both our guests and our associates."
"The
addition of the Claridge Tower, combined with the recent renovation
of Bally's hotel lobby, the porte cohere, the Gateway connector,
the Gold Room High Limit Slot Salon and the new Traymore Ballroom
with its refurbished meeting facilities, caps an incredible
year of transformation for our property," Bally's
Atlantic City President Ken Condon said.
Bally's
parent company, Park Place Entertainment Corporation, acquired
the Claridge
in June 2001. With the addition of the Claridge Tower, the new
Bally's offers its guests 1,753 hotel rooms, 21 restaurants,
6 lounges, 2 pools, 14 shops, a 550-seat theater, 3,993 parking
spaces, and 17 bus bays, qualifying it as the region's largest
casino resort.
Bally's
Atlantic City casino customers can now enjoy 180,000 square
feet of casino space and 42,337 square feet of simulcast casino
space - for a total of 222,337 square feet - with nearly 6,200
slot machines and more than 200 table games. The casino resort
also features three ballrooms and 30 meeting rooms with a total
of 80,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.
The Claridge
was physically connected to Bally's
Atlantic City last July with the opening of the $25 million
Gateway expansion. The Gateway provides guests convenient access
to casinos in both properties, as well as new shopping and dining
facilities.
In addition
to the building the Gateway, Park Place Entertainment has initiated
other improvements to the Claridge
in the past year intended to attract new customers and drive
profitable revenue. Those improvements include:
- Renovation
of 500 hotel rooms, scheduled for completion in 2003.
- Renovation
and reconfiguration of the second floor casino, including
new slot games, seats, service booths and carpeting.
- Installation
of five new high-speed elevators and a new 12,000 square foot
simulcast facility, also scheduled for completion in 2003.
- Debut
of new menus for restaurants and cafes, and the addition of
Sunday brunch in Luna, the Fulu noodle bar, and the new Bagel
& Doughnut Connection cafe.
- Renovation
and reopening of Lucky's Bar and Lounge as both a private
club and cash bar and lounge with live entertainment.
- Relocation
of the popular "Legends in Concert" to the 550-seat
Palace
Theater, enabling the transformation of the Park Cabaret Theater
into Bally's popular new high limit slot salon - The Gold
Room.
With this
merger approved by the state's gaming regulators, Park Place
now holds three casino licenses in New Jersey for Bally's
Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City and the Atlantic City
Hilton.
Park Place
Entertainment owns, manages or has an interest in 27 gaming
properties operating under the Caesars, Bally's, Flamingo, Grand
Casinos, Hilton and Paris brand names with a total of approximately
two million square feet of gaming space, 29,000 hotel rooms
and 55,000 employees worldwide.
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