Atlantic City's Harrah's Resort has added a new dimension to its property that has caused many of its visitors to come out with a wow! when touring the new tower and its amenities. The $550 million that was spent on a new hotel tower -- which will make Harrah's the largest in terms of room capacity in Atlantic City -- certainly seems justified when you see the reaction of the people who were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday.
Governor Jon Corzine, in attendance at the event, said this, along with the Borgata's new Water Club (slated to open in June) and the Trump Taj Mahal's new addition in the fall, marks the beginning of an new era in Atlantic City.
The new tower at Harrah's has 20 floors currently open for business and a few more floors will be added each week until the tower is completed in July. The glass-enclosed indoor pool is busy day and night. I've seen people swimming there at 9am and people dancing there at 2am. One cannot get sunburned in the pool area, so there's an outdoor deck with lounge chairs for those who are working on a tan. Harrah's is the first, to my knowledge, that has brought local merchants into its food court. The recently opened Taste of the Shore offers subs from Sack O' Subs, pizza from Walt's Original Primo Pizza and ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. By the way, Ben Cohen, the Ben of Ben & Jerry's, flew in for the opening celebration.
Harrah's has just announced the addition of a McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant, a chain that began in Portland, Ore. There are 50 McCormick & Schmick's around the nation, but this is the first inside a casino. The restaurant will open this summer, offering an extensive selection of international, national, regional and local species of seafood. Try any of the many restaurants at Harrah's Resort, including the Steakhouse, Polistina's, the Waterfront Buffet and Reflections Cafe, and you will enjoy excellent dining experiences. Congratulations to Harrah's Entertainment for the foresight its operators had to expand its Atlantic City properties.
Do you know that, with the Midmer-Losh pipe organ in Boardwalk Hall, we have the biggest organ in the world? We also have another magnificent organ in the Kimball organ, which resides inside the hall's Adrian Phillips Ballroom. Did you ever have the good fortune of hearing the wonderful music of these outstanding instruments? I have, and it was an exciting event every time we stood for the National Anthem as the Midmer-Losh organ paid tribute to this great country at the beginning of sports events and meetings.
In 1961, I was the manager of Luigi's Gondola Room Nightclub. It was my responsibility to hire the acts and one of them was Earl Grant, the noted jazz organist. Grant drew big crowds all week. I told him about the biggest organ in the world and he asked if he could, if possible, sit at the keyboard. I called the keeper of the organ at then-Convention Hall and asked if I could bring Grant to see the organ. Knowing of Grant, he said to bring him over. Grant was like a kid going to meet the biggest sports star in the world. He sat at the keyboard and couldn't believe the number of keys. The organ was turned on and Grant sat there and tried the various keys in order to get the feel of this marvelous instrument.
Then he began to play.
The workers at Convention Hall stopped their work and rushed to the stage to see who was creating the wonderful music they were hearing. I was standing alongside Grant watching him as he played and I saw tears of joy running down his face. After a half hour, he stopped and said a grateful thanks to the organ's keeper for giving him the privilege of playing it. He stated that it was the greatest thrill in his musical life.
Why this story now? The Midmer-Losh organ has been quiet for too many years. It will take $10 million to get it back into prime shape. The Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society was formed to restore the hall's two organs and a curator has been hired to oversee its restoration. Some revenue has been raised and more, we hope, will be forthcoming.
In the winter issue of the organization's journal, The Grand Ophicleide, curator Carl Loeser reports that: "As the organ restoration projects begin to move forward, there is not yet much visual evidence of what is taking place. However, there has been a great deal of recent activity directed at the organs. One of the first tasks has been to get the wind systems operational. It has been several years since most of the blowers have been operated and they have been subject to moisture during that time. Some of the blowers have been checked out and are now operational. The four functioning blowers on the Midmer-Losh organ have been operated at once, allowing the Grand Ophicleide and the Tuba Imperial to be heard again. This was, indeed, quite an exciting event."
Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will once again have Boardwalk Hall tours where residents and visitors will not only see the interior of the first building constructed without interior support beams, but also hear the music created by these world-renowned organs. We will keep you abreast of the restoration progress of these historic musical instruments.
Pinky's Corner airs Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm on News Talk WOND-AM 1400. His TV show, WMGM Presents Pinky, airs Saturday at 7:30pm on TV40. Pinky's e-mail address is: pinky@atlanticcityweekly.com.
Labor Day weekend is just about here and the summer may be over for some, but for us Atlantic City-area folk the party doesn’t end. I had the pleasure of speaking with Howard Weiss, the regional director of nightlife operations and strategy development at Caesars Entertainment. Caesars Entertainment embodies some of the hippest places to party and dance including the celebrity hot spot, “The Pool After Dark” at Harrah’s Resort and the Foundation Room, which is a chic ultra lounge located inside the Showboat Casino Hotel. According to Weiss, the Pool is different than any of the other venue in town because it has two identities. It’s a pool by day, and a nightclub by night. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing both aspects. Daytime at the Pool — especially in the winter months —...
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