With the Atlantic City Surf folding shop, city officials are debating the future of Bernie Robbins Stadium — but with no heat or water in the offices and several structural problems with the grandstand, it’s easy to see why the future of the facility is doomed.
With the Atlantic City Surf (independent; Can-Am Association) folding shop, city officials are debating the future of Bernie Robbins Stadium — but with no heat or water in the offices and several structural problems with the grandstand, it’s easy to see why the future of the facility is doomed.
The problems with the ballpark are many, and it’s easy to see why Surf management refused to put a dime into a facility that could easily be torn down in a few years. There’s no heat in the team offices after the office electric-heat system went out. There’s no water in the offices, either, after a water main burst. Several prominent cracks in the grandstand floor do not inspire confidence in the ballpark’s long-term stability.
The city’s response: it was up to the Surf to pay $500,000 for ballpark improvements, but we’re told office maintenance was a responsibility of the city and its Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. The fact remains that the city refused to look at a long-term lease extension to allow the team to actually pay for those improvements; it’s no secret some city officials would rather see condos and development at the ballpark site.
So you have a ballpark that’s certainly endangered. Without a main tenant and no prospects for one — the independent Atlantic League already failed there once — the decision to tear down the ballpark was just made a whole lot easier by the Surf ownership
RELATED STORIES: Can-Am Association to field only six teams this season; Atlantic City Surf ceases operations
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