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.JPG) Boardwalk Hall in 2014 | |
 Interactive map of Boardwalk Hall | |
| Former names | Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall |
|---|---|
| Address | 2301 Boardwalk |
| Location | Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Public transit |   NJ Transit bus: 505, 507, 508, 509 (at Atlantic Avenue) |
| Owner | Casino Reinvestment Development Authority |
| Operator | Spectra |
| Capacity | 10,500 |
| Opened | 1929 |
| Tenants | |
| Liberty Bowl (NCAA) (1964) Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (ECHL) (2001–2005) Atlantic City CardSharks (NIFL) (2004) Albany Devils (AHL) (2010–2014) (Alternate venue) Atlantic City Blackjacks (AFL) (2019) | |
| Website | |
| boardwalkhall | |
Boardwalk Hall | |
  | |
| Coordinates | 39°21′18″N74°26′19″W / 39.35500°N 74.43861°W /39.35500; -74.43861 |
| Built | 1926 |
| Architect | Lockwood, Greene & Co. |
| Architectural style | Romanesque revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 87000814 |
| NJRHP No. | 390[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 27, 1987[2] |
| Designated NHL | February 27, 1987[3] |
| Designated NJRHP | March 2, 1993 |
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as theHistoric Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose indoorarena inAtlantic City, New Jersey. Built during 1926–1929, it was Atlantic City's primaryconvention center until the opening of the newAtlantic City Convention Center in 1997. Boardwalk Hall was declared a U.S.National Historic Landmark in 1987 as one of the few surviving buildings from the city's early heyday as a seaside resort.[3][4] The venue seats 10,500 people forice hockey, and at maximum capacity can accommodate 14,770 forconcerts. Boardwalk Hall was the traditional home of theMiss America Pageant, though it has not been held there since2018.
Boardwalk Hall contains the world's largest musical instrument, apipe organ with over 33,000 pipes, eight chambers, the world's largest console with seven manuals and over 1200 stop tabs, and one of two 64-foot (20 m) stops (the other found in theSydney Town Hall). Also included in this organ are pipes operating on 100inches of pressure, the Grand Ophicleide being the loudest and also most famous.The Guinness Book of World Records noted "a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume, six times louder than the loudesttrain whistle." However, these stops are actually well-refined and are not overpowering in Boardwalk Hall due to its huge interior.
In 2018, New Jersey approved legislation to dedicate Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall in honor ofJim Whelan, a former mayor and state senator who died in 2017.[5][6] The hall's Adrian Phillips Theater is named for a former president of the Miss America Organization.[7]
Edward L. Bader, mayor of Atlantic City from 1924 to 1927, led the initiative to acquire the land for Convention Hall, now Boardwalk Hall, and construction was underway at the time of his death.[8] The hall, designed by thearchitectural firmLockwood Greene, was built during 1926–1929.
The main hall measures 456 by 310 feet (139 by 94 m). Thebarrel vault ceiling is 137 feet (42 m) high. Ten pairs of three-hinged steel trusses support this unusually large clear span; there are no supporting columns. Each pair of trusses spans 350 feet (110 m) and weighs 220 short tons (200 t). The trusses are tied to the frame columns to allow the building to flex slightly with wind and ground pressure. The barrel ceiling consists of painted aluminum tiles. It is decorated to resemble Roman bath tiles, and extends over 196,000 square feet (18,200 m2).[9] The building's forward section is slightly rotated to align with the boardwalk, while the hall itself is aligned to the street grid.
It takes sound roughly 0.4 seconds to travel the length of the hall; because of this, the pipe organ chambers could not be built more than halfway back from the stage or a noticeable delay would occur. This led to two of the organ's chambers being placed in the upper shell of the building, in the space between the outer roof and the ceiling.
A $90-million renovation designed by EwingCole was completed in 2001[10] and received several awards, including a 2003National Trust for Historic Preservation Award andBuilding magazine's 2002 Modernization Award. The hall's organ, which is the world's biggest, was severely damaged in the process.
Stockton University utilizes Boardwalk Hall for undergraduate degree recipient ceremonies each year in May.
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TheMiss America Pageant, founded in 1921 in Atlantic City, used Boardwalk Hall from 1940 until 2004. The Pageant returned to the hall in 2013 and was last used forMiss America 2019.[11]
It was also the venue for the August1964 Democratic National Convention that nominatedU.S. PresidentLyndon B. Johnson as theDemocratic Party's candidate for the1964 U.S. presidential election, nine months after theassassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, in November 1963.
The following weekend,The Beatles held one of their largest concerts on their first U.S. tour at the hall.
Judy Garland gave a concert at Convention Hall on August 4, 1961. Garland returned for a second engagement on September 3, 1961.
The hall was also the venue for the concert byThe Rolling Stones on theirSteel Wheels Tour in 1989. The concert, which was shown onpay-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", as well as the performance of "Miss You" in some countries. This concert was remastered, remixed and released on DVD, Blu-Ray, CD and Vinyl on 2 October 2020, as Steel Wheels Live Atlantic City, New Jersey '89.
On March 7, 2003,Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed. Tickets for the event were immediately sold-out.[12] Springsteen returned to perform a solo show on hisDevils & Dust Tour on November 13, 2005.
On August 16, 2003,Justin Timberlake andChristina Aguilera were supposed to perform at the Boardwalk Hall, but due to a major stage collapse, the show (and later tour) was postponed.[13]
On February 4, 2006,Bon Jovi from New Jersey performed for theHave a Nice Day Tour.
Celine Dion performed a sold-out show on September 20, 2008 as part of herTaking Chances World Tour. Dion returned to the venue for another sold-out show with herCourage World Tour on February 22, 2020.
Phish played three nights at Boardwalk Hall for Halloween in both 2010 and 2013. The 2010 Halloween concert featured a performance ofLittle Feat'sWaiting For Columbus album in its entirety. The 2013 show included the debut of Phish's unrecorded albumWingsuit, which would later become the albumFuego.
Jennifer Lopez performed a sold-out show in front of 11,220 people during herDance Again World Tour on July 29, 2012,
American pop starMadonna performed at the venue four times, with the first sold-out show at the arena in front of 12,322 people during herConfessions Tour on July 16, 2006, she performed the second show in front of 13,293 people during herSticky & Sweet Tour on November 22, 2008, and the third show in front of 12,207 people during herMDNA Tour on September 15, 2012, The fourth and last time in front of 9,498 people during herRebel Heart Tour on October 3, 2015.
Britney Spears performed a sold-out show in December 2001, and again for herFemme Fatale Tour on August 6, 2011.
Lady Gaga was scheduled to perform here on March 2, 2013, for herBorn This Way Ball, but the show was later cancelled due to a hip injury which required surgery. She has previously performed at the arena on July 4, 2010, and February 19, 2011, as a part of herMonster Ball Tour. She performed a sold-out show on June 28, 2014, for herArtrave: The Artpop Ball Tour.
Beyoncé performed at the venue for the first time onThe Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. The show sold out within its first few days of sales and took place on July 26, 2013.
Journey andRascal Flatts made a stop at the hall for one-night shows, performing separately.[when?]
On May 22, 2015,The Who stopped at the Hall to celebrate their 50th anniversary on their tour,The Who Hits 50!
On June 8, 2019,Twenty One Pilots performed at the hall for theirBandito Tour.
On June 9, 2023,Gavin DeGraw headlined withColbie Caillat for a show with North2Shore.[14]
Mike Tyson fought in Boardwalk Hall several times asHeavyweight champion including four of his seven defenses asUndisputed Champion. Among his title defenses in Boardwalk Hall was a Fourth RoundTKO over former championLarry Holmes on January 22, 1988. His most famous bout at the venue was the91-second Knockout of former champion and previously undefeatedMichael Spinks on June 27, 1988.[15]
On April 19, 1991,Undisputed Heavyweight ChampionEvander Holyfield defeated former championGeorge Foreman in his first title defense.
Other fighters who have had boxing matches (many of which were title fights) in Boardwalk Hall includeSugar Ray Leonard,Oscar De La Hoya,Roberto Durán,Lennox Lewis,Roy Jones Jr.,Floyd Mayweather Jr.,Bernard Hopkins,Riddick Bowe,Julio César Chávez,Héctor Camacho,Micky Ward, andArturo Gatti.[16]
In September 2007, it was the venue for theKelly Pavlik –Jermain Taylor boxing match for theWorld Boxing Council,World Boxing Organization andThe Ring magazine'smiddleweight championships.
The Hall hosted theWorld Wrestling Federation'sWrestleMania IV andV in 1988 and 1989, respectively, although on the television coverage it was referred to as "Trump Plaza" because the adjacentcasinohotel was the primary sponsor. During the opening to WrestleMania IV, celebrity guestBob Uecker refers to the building as the 'convention center'. WrestleMania IV was attended by 18,165 fans while WrestleMania V had an attendance of 18,946. It was the only venue for 38 years to host the annualpay-per-view event in consecutive years untilAllegiant Stadium hostedWrestleMania 41 and will hostWrestleMania 42.
In addition to the two WrestleMania events, many other WWE shows have been held with their weekly showsRaw,SmackDown,Heat,Velocity, andECW taking place.
The Hall hostedAll Elite Wrestling on February 9, 2022, with an episode ofAEW Dynamite.[17][18] It also hosted the February 11, 2022 episode ofAEW Rampage, which was taped on the same night asDynamite.[19]
On December 12, 1965, theNew York Ukrainians defeated thePhiladelphia Ukrainian Nationals 3–2 in the first regulation indoorsoccer match at the Convention Hall before more than 3,000 spectators.[20]
Prior to1973, the NCAA was divided into two divisions, University and College. Boardwalk Hall hosted bowl games in both divisions; the University Division later becameNCAA Division I, while the College Division was subdivided intoDivision II andDivision III.
The nation's first-everindoor American football field was constructed within the hall in 1930, and hosted one to three games a year through the 1930s, before the practice was halted due toWorld War II and not resumed until 1961. The first game was a 7–0 victory byWashington & Jefferson overLafayette on October 25, 1930.
In 1959, A. F. "Bud" Dudley, a formerVillanova University athletic director, created theLiberty Bowl, an annual post-seasoncollege-footballbowl game inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The game was played atPhiladelphia Municipal Stadium, but as the only cold-weather bowl game, it was plagued by poor attendance. A group of Atlantic City businessmen convinced Dudley to move his game from Philadelphia to Boardwalk Hall for 1964 and guaranteed Dudley $25,000.[21]
The1964 Liberty Bowl was the first major (University Division) collegiate bowl game played indoors and was also the first indoor football gamebroadcast nationwide on U.S. television. Sinceartificial 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 ofburlap underneath it (as padding) on top ofconcrete. To keep the grass growing, artificial lighting was installed and kept on 24 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 theUtah Utes rout theWest Virginia Mountaineers, 32–6. 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.[22] This would be the only time the game was played in Atlantic City, as Dudley moved it the following year toMemphis, Tennessee, where it remains to this day.
Boardwalk Hall was also the venue of the formerBoardwalk Bowl post-season game from 1961 to 1973. From 1961 through 1967, the games were known as the "Little Army-Navy Game", featuring the College Division'sPennsylvania Military College and theMerchant Marine Academy. From 1968 through 1972, the bowl was the East regional championship for the College Division;Delaware won four times, andMassachusetts won once. The final playing of the bowl was in 1973, as a Division II quarterfinal;Grambling defeated Delaware.
TheKnute Rockne Bowl, a College Division game for smaller eastern schools, was held in Boardwalk Hall from 1970 through 1972.Montclair State (1970) andBridgeport (1971, 1972) were the victors.
In2004, it was the home of theAtlantic City CardSharks, a professionalindoor football team that played a single season in theNational Indoor Football League. They finished the regular season in second place for their division with a 9–5 record and lost in the wild card round of the playoffs to theLexington Horsemen 54–25.
On May 30, 2015, the venue hosted thePhiladelphia Soul andLas Vegas Outlaws for the venue's firstArena Football League (AFL) game. The Soul won 51–43 with an attendance of 6,514.[23]
In 2019, the AFL added theAtlantic City Blackjacks with home games at Boardwalk Hall.[24] They finished their inaugural season 4–8 and the entire AFL ceased operations at the end of the season.
TheSyracuse Nationals and thePhiladelphia Warriors played a regular season game at the arena on December 29, 1949. The game was part of a double header. The opening game was an exhibition basketball game between selected players of thePhiladelphia Eagles and theWashington Redskins.[25]
From 2007 through 2012, theAtlantic 10 Conference held its men's basketball championship at Boardwalk Hall. The 2013 tournament was held at theBarclays Center inBrooklyn, New York.
TheBrooklyn Nets and thePhiladelphia 76ers played a preseason game at the arena on October 13, 2012.[26][27][needs update]
In 2018, theMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced itsmen's andwomen's basketball tournaments will be held at Boardwalk Hall from 2020 through 2022.[28]
| Date | Opponent | Score | Home | Game type | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 29, 1949 | Syracuse Nationals | 64–62 | Philadelphia Warriors | RS | 1,229 |
| October 13, 2012 | Brooklyn Nets | 108–105 | Philadelphia 76ers | PS | 6,887 |
It played host to theAtlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, an ice-hockey team, from 2001 to 2005. From 2011 to 2013,ECAC Hockey held its men's ice hockey championship at Boardwalk Hall.
During the 2010–2011 season, Boardwalk Hall hosted four home games for theAlbany Devils and one home game for theTrenton Devils both affiliated with theNew Jersey Devils. The Albany Devils returned to play four home games during the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons.[29]
Despite not having a team in Atlantic City, theAmerican Hockey League hosted the 2012 All-Star Classic at Boardwalk Hall.
On November 24, 2012, Boardwalk Hall hosted "Operation Hat Trick", a charity hockey game to raise money forHurricane Sandy victims. Among the NHL players who particated wereMartin Brodeur,Andy Greene,Henrik Lundqvist,Bobby Ryan, andJames van Riemsdyk.[30]
In 1995, the Hall was used forMonica Seles's return to tennis after she had been stabbed in 1993. It was a straight-sets victory overMartina Navratilova.[31]
The Hall was used in 1996 for the women'stennisFed Cup during which the U.S. beatSpain 5–0 in theFed Cup women's tennis.
ThePBR hosted aBuilt Ford Tough Seriesbull riding event at Boardwalk Hall during the 2003 and 2018 seasons.
TheNew Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association uses the hall to host the annual individual state wrestling tournament.
TheUltimate Fighting Championship has held five events in the hall,UFC 41: Onslaught in 2003,UFC 50: The War of '04 in 2004,UFC 53: Heavy Hitters in 2005,UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee in 2018, and most recentlyUFC on ESPN: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot in 2024.[32]
The2005 edition of theSkate Americafigure skating competition was held at Boardwalk Hall.
Midget car racing events have been held at the Boardwalk Hall since 1938. Since 2003 it hosts the Atlantic City Indoor Races, a round of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series.
On August 1, 2025, theProfessional Fighters League (PFL) held its World Tournament Finals at Boardwalk Hall.[33]
Constructed between May 1929 and December 1932, theMain Auditorium Organ is the "Poseidon"Midmer-Loshpipe organ, the world's largest, as listed inThe Guinness Book of World Records. The instrument has an estimated 33,112 pipes and requires approximately 600horsepower (450 kW) of blowers to operate. The organ was badly damaged by the1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane and has not been fully functional since. It was rendered completely inoperable by carelessness during hall renovation in 2001, and remained unplayable until 2007, when a restoration program began. As of 2024, about 60% of the organ's functionality has been restored.[34]
Boardwalk Hall's attached ballroom contains a 55-rank Kimball concert/theater pipe organ — originally installed to accompany silent movies — that was severely damaged during the hall's renovation. Though small in comparison with the Main Auditorium organ, the Ballroom organ is actually one of the largest theater organs by rank count, second toRadio City Music Hall's Wurlitzer theater organ (58 ranks).[35]
Restoration efforts have been underway, originally overseen by the Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society and funded by private donations and federalSave America's Treasures grants. The work is currently overseen by the Historic Organ Restoration Committee, a 501(c)3 nonprofit chartered by the state of New Jersey for the restoration and preservation of the two pipe organs of Boardwalk Hall. As of January 2024, the committee forecast that at current rates of funding, restoration should be completed by 2030.[34]
The convention center is one of the few buildings surviving from Atlantic City's heyday as a seaside resort in the 1920s. It was an architectural and engineering triumph, its convention space providing the largest interior space with an unobstructed view at the time.[4] It was recognized for its engineering as aHistoric Civil Engineering Landmark in 1983, and as a U.S.National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Billboard magazine recognized Boardwalk Hall as the top-grossing mid-sized arena in the U.S. in 2003 and 2004.In 2003,The Ring magazine Fight of the Year was Gatti vs Ward which was hosted at the Hall.[36]
| Events and tenants | ||
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| Preceded by None | Miss America Venue 1940–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Home of theLiberty Bowl 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Miss America Venue 2013–2019 | Succeeded by |
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