Casinos have been closing in Atlantic City, N.J., despite Governor Chris Christie’s visions to make it “Las Vegas East.” Five years ago, the governor said “Atlantic City is dying,” but not much progress has happened since.
Perkins+Will believes it has a solution that could put Atlantic City’s existing infrastructure to good use—by turning the Jersey Shore city into a research center for climate change and coastal resiliency.
As Business Insider reports, the firm wants to repurpose the Atlantic City Convention Center as a "civic-scale academy for training leaders from around the world on resiliency standards, techniques, and doctrine,” using vacated casino buildings for conferences and presentations.
Wind tunnels and labs could be made out of the windowless basement rooms originally built for slot machines.
“Two things aligned in Atlantic City: its current economic state and its climate vulnerability,” Daniel Windsor, Senior Urban Designer and Senior Associate with Perkins+Will, told Business Insider.
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