Boardwalk Hall
Encyclopedia
Boardwalk Hall, formally known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is an arena
in Atlantic City, New Jersey
, United States
. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center
until the opening of the Atlantic City Convention Center
in 1997.
Boardwalk Hall contains the world's largest musical instrument, a pipe organ of over 33,000 pipes, 8 chambers, its console the world's largest of 7 manuals and over 1000 stop keys, and one of two actual 64'stops (the other found in the Sydney Town Hall). Also included in this organ are pipes which are on 100 inches of pressure, the Grand Ophicleide being the loudest and also most famous. The Guinness Book of World Records states the following "..a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume,.. six times louder than the loudest train whistle." However, these stops are actually well refined and are not overpowering in Boardwalk hall due to its massive interior size. The organ now lies mostly unplayable, mostly due to its poor construction, but as well as lack of routine maintenance, water damage from the leaking roof, and careless maneuvers during the restoration of Boardwalk Hall itself. The relays were severed, pipes were stepped on, windlines cut, and tremendous amounts of concrete dust fell during the replacement of the Hall's seating. The cost of the complete restoration and repairs is estimated at around $15 million.
It was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark
in 1987.
The venue seats 10,500 people for ice hockey
, and can accommodate over 17,000 for concert
s.
, mayor of Atlantic City from 1924–1929, lead the initiative to acquire the land for Convention Hall, now Boardwalk Hall, and construction was underway at the time of his death. The hall, designed by the architectural firm
Lockwood Greene, was built in 1926.
pageant, a competition which awards scholarship
s to young women and was founded in 1921 in Atlantic City, used Boardwalk Hall from the hall's opening until 2004.
It was also the venue for the August 1964 Democratic National Convention
that nominated U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson
as the Democratic Party
's candidate for the 1964 U.S. presidential election
, nine months after the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy
, in November 1963.
The following week, The Beatles
held one of their largest concerts on their first U.S. tour at the hall.
The hall was also the venue for the classic (and widely bootleg recorded
) concert by The Rolling Stones
in 1989. The concert, which was shown on pay-per-view
television, is widely remembered by fans for a mishap where viewers were cut off from the performance during the song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
".
fought in Boardwalk Hall several times as Heavyweight
Champion
including four of his seven defenses as Undisputed Champion
. Among his title defenses in Boardwalk Hall was a Fourth Round TKO over former champion Larry Holmes
on January 22, 1988. His most famous bout at the venue was the 91 second Knockout
of former champion and previously undefeated Michael Spinks
on June 27, 1988.
On April 19, 1991, Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield
defeated former champion George Foreman
in his first title defense.
Other fighters who have had boxing matches (many of which were title fights) in Boardwalk Hall include Sugar Ray Leonard
, Oscar De La Hoya
, Roberto Duran
, Lennox Lewis
, Roy Jones Jr.
, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
, Bernard Hopkins
, Riddick Bowe
, Julio César Chávez
, Héctor Camacho
and Arturo Gatti
.
In September 2007, it was the venue for the Kelly Pavlik
- Jermain Taylor
boxing match for the World Boxing Council
, World Boxing Organization
and The Ring
magazine's middleweight
championships.
athletic-director, created the Liberty Bowl
, an annual post-season college-football
bowl game
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The game was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium
, but as the only cold-weather bowl game, it was plagued by poor attendance. Atlantic City convinced Dudley to move his game from Philadelphia to Boardwalk Hall for 1964 and guaranteed Dudley US$
25,000.
It was the first bowl game played indoors and was also the first indoor football game broadcast
nationwide on U.S. television.
Since artificial turf
was still in its developmental stages and was unavailable for the game, the hall was equipped with a four-inch-thick grass surface with two inches of burlap underneath it (as padding) on top of concrete
. To keep the grass growing, artificial lighting was installed and kept on twenty-four hours a day. The entire process cost about $16,000. End zones were only eight yards long instead of the usual ten yards.
6,059 fans saw the Utah Utes
rout the West Virginia Mountaineers
.
Dudley was paid $25,000 from Atlantic City businessmen, $60,000 from ticket sales, and $95,000 from television revenues, for a $10,000 net profit.
post-season college-football games from 1961 to 1973.
In 1996, the hall was used for the women's tennis
Fed Cup
during which the U.S. beat Spain
5-0 in the Fed Cup
women's tennis. This event was Monica Seles
's return to tennis following her 1993 stabbing.
It played host to the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies
, an ice-hockey team, from 2001–2005, and the Atlantic City CardSharks
, a professional, indoor-football team, in 2004.
It hosted the World Wrestling Entertainment
's WrestleMania IV
and V
in 1988 and 1989, respectively, although on the television coverage it was referred to as "Trump Plaza
" because the adjacent casino
hotel
was the primary sponsor. Many WWE shows have also been held with both WWE Raw
and WWE Friday Night SmackDown making appearances.
The PBR hosted a Built Ford Tough Series
bull riding
event at Boardwalk Hall during the 2003 season.
Since 2007, the Atlantic 10 Conference has held its men's basketball championships at Boardwalk Hall and will continue to do so through at least 2012.
In 2010, Boardwalk Hall will host four home games for the Albany Devils
and one home game for the Trenton Devils both affiliated with the New Jersey Devils
.
Beginning in 2011, the ECAC Hockey will hold its men's ice hockey championship at Boardwalk Hall.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
uses the hall to host the annual individual state wrestling tournament.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship
has held 3 events in the hall, UFC 41: Onslaught in 2003, UFC 50: The War of '04 in 2004 and UFC 53: Heavy Hitters in 2005.
, the Main Auditorium Organ, as listed in The Guinness Book of World Records
. The Midmer-Losh-manufactured organ has approximately 33,000 pipes and requires approximately 600 hp of blowers to operate. However, the condition of the organ was allowed to deteriorate and is no longer fully functional. Dust from the hall's renovation has also been problematic.
Boardwalk Hall's attached ballroom has a 55-rank
theater/concert pipe organ — originally installed to accompany silent movies — which was severely damaged during the hall's renovation. Compared to the Main Auditorium organ, this organ looks tiny. But in reality, the Ballroom organ is actually one of the largest of its kind.
Restoration efforts are underway, overseen by the Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society and are funded by private donations and federal Save America's Treasures
grants.
was completed in 2001 and received several awards, including the 2003 National Preservation Award and Building
magazine's 2002 Modernization Award.
magazine recognized Boardwalk Hall as the top-grossing mid-sized arena in the U.S. in 2003 and 2004.
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
until the opening of the Atlantic City Convention Center
Atlantic City Convention Center
The Atlantic City Convention Center is a large convention center located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Opened in 1997, the center includes of showroom space, 5 exhibit halls, 45 meeting rooms with of space, a garage with 1,400 parking spaces, and an adjacent Sheraton hotel.-History:The Center was...
in 1997.
Boardwalk Hall contains the world's largest musical instrument, a pipe organ of over 33,000 pipes, 8 chambers, its console the world's largest of 7 manuals and over 1000 stop keys, and one of two actual 64'stops (the other found in the Sydney Town Hall). Also included in this organ are pipes which are on 100 inches of pressure, the Grand Ophicleide being the loudest and also most famous. The Guinness Book of World Records states the following "..a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume,.. six times louder than the loudest train whistle." However, these stops are actually well refined and are not overpowering in Boardwalk hall due to its massive interior size. The organ now lies mostly unplayable, mostly due to its poor construction, but as well as lack of routine maintenance, water damage from the leaking roof, and careless maneuvers during the restoration of Boardwalk Hall itself. The relays were severed, pipes were stepped on, windlines cut, and tremendous amounts of concrete dust fell during the replacement of the Hall's seating. The cost of the complete restoration and repairs is estimated at around $15 million.
It was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1987.
The venue seats 10,500 people for ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, and can accommodate over 17,000 for concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s.
History
Edward L. BaderEdward L. Bader
Edward Lawrence Bader was an American politician who served as Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey for much of the Roaring Twenties, when the city was arguably at the peak of its popularity, as a vacation spot...
, mayor of Atlantic City from 1924–1929, lead the initiative to acquire the land for Convention Hall, now Boardwalk Hall, and construction was underway at the time of his death. The hall, designed by the architectural firm
Architectural firm
An architectural firm is a company which employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture.- History :Architects have existed since early in recorded history. The earliest recorded architects include Imhotep and Senemut . No writings exist to describe how these...
Lockwood Greene, was built in 1926.
Various uses
The Miss AmericaMiss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
pageant, a competition which awards scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s to young women and was founded in 1921 in Atlantic City, used Boardwalk Hall from the hall's opening until 2004.
It was also the venue for the August 1964 Democratic National Convention
1964 Democratic National Convention
The 1964 Democratic National Convention was the 1964 presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party. It took place at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey from August 24 to 27, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson -- who had been Vice President under...
that nominated U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
as the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
's candidate for the 1964 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 1964
The United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's...
, nine months after the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, in November 1963.
The following week, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
held one of their largest concerts on their first U.S. tour at the hall.
The hall was also the venue for the classic (and widely bootleg recorded
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
) concert by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
in 1989. The concert, which was shown on pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
television, is widely remembered by fans for a mishap where viewers were cut off from the performance during the song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
".
Boxing
Mike TysonMike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
fought in Boardwalk Hall several times as Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
Champion
Champion
A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...
including four of his seven defenses as Undisputed Champion
Undisputed Champion
In professional boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is a boxer who is recognized as the world champion at that class by each boxing organization.-History:...
. Among his title defenses in Boardwalk Hall was a Fourth Round TKO over former champion Larry Holmes
Larry Holmes
Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin....
on January 22, 1988. His most famous bout at the venue was the 91 second Knockout
Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks
Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks was a boxing match which took place on 27 June 1988. Both men were undefeated and each had a claim to being the legitimate heavyweight champion; Tyson held the WBA, WBC and IBF belts, while Spinks held the Ring Magazine belt and was considered the lineal champion.Held...
of former champion and previously undefeated Michael Spinks
Michael Spinks
Michael Spinks is a retired American boxer who was a world champion in the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions...
on June 27, 1988.
On April 19, 1991, Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...
defeated former champion George Foreman
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...
in his first title defense.
Other fighters who have had boxing matches (many of which were title fights) in Boardwalk Hall include Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...
, Oscar De La Hoya
Oscar de la Hoya
Oscar De La Hoya is a retired American boxer of Mexican descent. Nicknamed "The Golden Boy", De La Hoya won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games shortly after graduating from Garfield High School. De La Hoya comes from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr., and brother...
, Roberto Duran
Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán Samaniego is a retired professional boxer from Panama, widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. A versatile brawler in the ring, he was nicknamed "Manos de Piedra" during his career....
, Lennox Lewis
Lennox Lewis
Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...
, Roy Jones Jr.
Roy Jones Jr.
Roy Jones, Jr. is an American boxer. As a professional he has captured numerous world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight divisions...
, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather, Jr. is an American professional boxer. He is a five-division world champion, where he has won seven world titles, as well as the lineal championship in three different weight classes...
, Bernard Hopkins
Bernard Hopkins
Bernard Hopkins Jr, known as The Executioner is an American boxer and the current Ring Magazine and WBC light heavyweight champion...
, Riddick Bowe
Riddick Bowe
Riddick Lamont Bowe is a retired American boxer. He is a two-time heavyweight champion and a former undisputed heavyweight champion...
, Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez is a retired Mexican professional boxer.He is a six-time world champion in three weight divisions, and for several years he was considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world...
, Héctor Camacho
Héctor Camacho
Héctor Camacho , nicknamed "Macho Camacho", is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. His son, Héctor Camacho Jr., is also a boxer.- Early life and amateur career :...
and Arturo Gatti
Arturo Gatti
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was a Canadian professional boxer. Born in Cassino, Italy, and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gatti relocated to Jersey City, United States as a teenager...
.
In September 2007, it was the venue for the Kelly Pavlik
Kelly Pavlik
Kelly Pavlik is an American professional boxer. He was The Ring, WBC, & WBO middleweight champion from when he beat Jermain Taylor on September 29, 2007 until he lost his titles to Sergio Martinez on April 17, 2010....
- Jermain Taylor
Jermain Taylor
Jermain Taylor is an American professional boxer and former undisputed middleweight champion. He made his professional boxing debut in 2001 and won his first 25 bouts, which included victories over former champions Raúl Márquez and William Joppy...
boxing match for the World Boxing Council
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
, World Boxing Organization
World Boxing Organization
The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...
and The Ring
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
magazine's middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
championships.
Liberty Bowl
In 1959, A. F. “Bud” Dudley, a former Villanova UniversityVillanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
athletic-director, created the Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...
, an annual post-season college-football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The game was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that stood from 1925 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was situated on the east side of the far southern end of Broad Street at a location that is now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
, but as the only cold-weather bowl game, it was plagued by poor attendance. Atlantic City convinced Dudley to move his game from Philadelphia to Boardwalk Hall for 1964 and guaranteed Dudley US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
25,000.
It was the first bowl game played indoors and was also the first indoor football game broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
nationwide on U.S. television.
Since artificial turf
Artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...
was still in its developmental stages and was unavailable for the game, the hall was equipped with a four-inch-thick grass surface with two inches of burlap underneath it (as padding) on top of concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
. To keep the grass growing, artificial lighting was installed and kept on twenty-four hours a day. The entire process cost about $16,000. End zones were only eight yards long instead of the usual ten yards.
6,059 fans saw the Utah Utes
Utah Utes football
The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that currently competes in the Pacific-12 Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Rice–Eccles...
rout the West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...
.
Dudley was paid $25,000 from Atlantic City businessmen, $60,000 from ticket sales, and $95,000 from television revenues, for a $10,000 net profit.
Other sporting events
Boardwalk Hall was also the venue of the former Boardwalk BowlBoardwalk Bowl
The Boardwalk Bowl is a post-season college football game held at the former Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The game featured an annual matchup between Pennsylvania Military College and the United States Merchant Marine Academy, known as the "Little Army–Navy Game"...
post-season college-football games from 1961 to 1973.
In 1996, the hall was used for the women's tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
Fed Cup
Fed Cup
Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...
during which the U.S. beat Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
5-0 in the Fed Cup
Fed Cup
Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...
women's tennis. This event was Monica Seles
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
's return to tennis following her 1993 stabbing.
It played host to the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies
The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies were an ECHL hockey team in Atlantic City, New Jersey from 2001 to 2005. The team's venue was the historic Boardwalk Hall, which seats 6,979....
, an ice-hockey team, from 2001–2005, and the Atlantic City CardSharks
Atlantic City CardSharks
The Atlantic City CardSharks were a professional indoor football team that played in the NIFL for a single season....
, a professional, indoor-football team, in 2004.
It hosted the World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
's WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on March 27, 1988 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey....
and V
WrestleMania V
WrestleMania V was the fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on April 2, 1989 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey...
in 1988 and 1989, respectively, although on the television coverage it was referred to as "Trump Plaza
Trump Plaza (Atlantic City)
Trump Plaza is a hotel and casino located on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Designed by architect Martin Stern, Jr., it was opened in 1984 and is one of two casinos owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts...
" because the adjacent casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
was the primary sponsor. Many WWE shows have also been held with both WWE Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
and WWE Friday Night SmackDown making appearances.
The PBR hosted a Built Ford Tough Series
Built Ford Tough Series
The Built Ford Tough Series is the "major league" tour of the PBR competitions. It is a 30-city event series culminating in the PBR World Finals every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The top 45 riders of the PBR compete in the BFTS with the rankings determined by points and money won...
bull riding
Bull riding
Bull riding refers to rodeo sports that involve a rider getting on a large bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal attempts to buck off the rider....
event at Boardwalk Hall during the 2003 season.
Since 2007, the Atlantic 10 Conference has held its men's basketball championships at Boardwalk Hall and will continue to do so through at least 2012.
In 2010, Boardwalk Hall will host four home games for the Albany Devils
Albany Devils
The Albany Devils are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League , founded in 2010. The top AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League 's New Jersey Devils, the team has as its home the Times Union Center in Albany, New York...
and one home game for the Trenton Devils both affiliated with the New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
Beginning in 2011, the ECAC Hockey will hold its men's ice hockey championship at Boardwalk Hall.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association is an association of hundreds of New Jersey high schools that regulates high school athletics and holds tournaments and crowns champions in high school sports.-State championships:...
uses the hall to host the annual individual state wrestling tournament.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
has held 3 events in the hall, UFC 41: Onslaught in 2003, UFC 50: The War of '04 in 2004 and UFC 53: Heavy Hitters in 2005.
Pipe organ
When built in 1929, it became the home of the world's-largest pipe organPipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
, the Main Auditorium Organ, as listed in The Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
. The Midmer-Losh-manufactured organ has approximately 33,000 pipes and requires approximately 600 hp of blowers to operate. However, the condition of the organ was allowed to deteriorate and is no longer fully functional. Dust from the hall's renovation has also been problematic.
Boardwalk Hall's attached ballroom has a 55-rank
Organ stop
An organ stop is a component of a pipe organ that admits pressurized air to a set of organ pipes. Its name comes from the fact that stops can be used selectively by the organist; some can be "on" , while others can be "off" .The term can also refer...
theater/concert pipe organ — originally installed to accompany silent movies — which was severely damaged during the hall's renovation. Compared to the Main Auditorium organ, this organ looks tiny. But in reality, the Ballroom organ is actually one of the largest of its kind.
Restoration efforts are underway, overseen by the Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society and are funded by private donations and federal Save America's Treasures
Save America's Treasures
Save America's Treasures is a United States Federal initiative to preserve and protect American historic buildings, arts, and published works. It is a public-private partnership between the U.S. National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation...
grants.
2001 Restoration and awards
A $90-million restoration designed by EwingColeEwingCole
EwingCole is an integrated architecture, engineering, interior design and planning firm founded in 1961 as Alexander Ewing & Associates. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, with offices in Washington, DC and Irvine, CA, the firm provides services for project types including academic, corporate,...
was completed in 2001 and received several awards, including the 2003 National Preservation Award and Building
Building (magazine)
Building is one of the United Kingdom’s oldest business-to-business magazines, launched as The Builder in 1843 by Joseph Aloysius Hansom – architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the Hansom Cab. The journal was renamed Building in 1966 as it is still known today. Building is the only UK...
magazine's 2002 Modernization Award.
Other awards
BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine recognized Boardwalk Hall as the top-grossing mid-sized arena in the U.S. in 2003 and 2004.
See also
- Atlantic City ArmoryAtlantic City ArmoryAtlantic City Armory is an armory at 1008 Absecon Boulevard in Atlantic City, New Jersey.For the 1944 season the New York Yankees held spring training in Atlantic City. They made the 300-room Senator Hotel their headquarters, trained indoors at the armory and played at Bader Field.In 2009 it was...
- Atlantic City Convention CenterAtlantic City Convention CenterThe Atlantic City Convention Center is a large convention center located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Opened in 1997, the center includes of showroom space, 5 exhibit halls, 45 meeting rooms with of space, a garage with 1,400 parking spaces, and an adjacent Sheraton hotel.-History:The Center was...
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Atlantic County, New Jersey
External links and sources
- boardwalkhall.com, Boardwark Hall's official website
- acchos.org, Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society's official website