Former casinos could be home to new Stockton campus

One of two shuttered Atlantic City casinos could become the home of a new campus for Richard Stockton College.That’s according to a report from The Press of Atlantic City, which quoted city Mayor Don Guardian as saying the Galloway-based college is looking at the former Atlantic Club and Showboat casino hotels. He told the newspaper he believes Stockton “is very close now” in making a decision about one of the properties.

“They were looking for a new campus for 10,000 students, and we were able to convince them that Atlantic City is the location,” Guardian said at an economic forum Wednesday, according to the report. “So in the next couple of weeks, you’ll see they’re either going to end up with the Atlantic Club, which means all the property in that section of town will become the college district, or they’re going to end up with Showboat, in which case the Southeast Inlet is going to become a district.

RELATED: Florida company will convert another A.C. casino property

“They’re looking at 10,000 students, four undergraduate schools, four graduate schools.”

It’s certainly not the first time Stockton was reported to be interested in expanding its presence in Atlantic City, but the latest news comes with the resort having lost four casinos since the start of the year. Atlantic Club closed in January, while Revel, Showboat and Trump Plaza all have closed in the past two months.

Such a proposal could be critical for a city that has been decimated by increased gaming competition from neighboring states and has been searching for ways to diversify itself.

Sharon Schulman, Stockton’s CEO of external affairs and institutional research, released this statement to The Press of Atlantic City:

“Our status has not changed. Yes, as we have discussed, we are pursuing various opportunities in Atlantic City, but nothing is definite and it is premature to discuss them,” Schulman said. “There is nothing firm.”

TJM Properties, a Florida-based developer, announced in May that it had purchased the Atlantic Club, with plans to run it as a non-gaming facility. But the firm has said little since about its plans since then.

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