The world-famous Atlantic City Boardwalk - the world’s very first boardwalk - was conceptualized by Alexander Boardman, a conductor on the Atlantic City-Camden Railroad, who thought up the idea of constructing a wooden walkway linking the beach and town to address the issue of sand being tracked into the city’s beautiful hotels. On June 26, 1870, the first section of the Atlantic City boardwalk opened. At eight feet wide and one mile long, it quickly grew to fame as a major oceanside attraction, bringing visitors from far and wide.

Soon after opening, the walkway was extended and stretched to five miles long. Businesses grew around the boardwalk and beach, and attractions were added to capitalize on the town’s new found popularity. But the advent of World War II and increasing access to affordable air travel marked a shift in travel across the United States, and visitors soon abandoned America’s Favorite Playground for other pursuits.The city and its famous boardwalk fell into disrepair shortly thereafter.

With the aim of fostering economic growth in Atlantic City, the state of New Jersey passed the Casino Gambling Referendum in 1976, and Atlantic City began a steady climb in popularity among tourists. However, it wasn’t until 10 years later, with the creation of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), that the growth enjoyed by the casinos was parlayed into city- and statewide benefits. Early projects focused on addressing transportation and housing issues, but until
recently, the boardwalk has been maintained but only minorly improved.

In 2004, legislation was passed in the State of New Jersey to allow the CRDA to create a fund to address needs along the Atlantic City Board- walk. One component of The Boardwalk Revitalization Fund, paid through voluntary contribution of casino parking fees as well as required economic development investments to Atlantic City, will soon revitalize every willing non-casino boardwalk
merchant’s storefront.

CRDA has awarded the Atlantic City Special Improvement District a project management contract for this non-casino development. In 2005, ACSID released a Request for Proposal seeking qualified architects and contractors for the first phase of this project, which encompasses the businesses of the 1500 block between New York and Kentucky avenues; 1600 between Kentucky Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, 2500 between Bellevue and Texas avenues;

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