It’s even worse when they want your French fries on the Boardwalk.
Glen Straub, the Florida developer that bought Atlantic City’s closed Revel casino says the vacant site has been plagued by seagulls that have smashed into the glass tower and broken $36,000 in windows.
Straub told the Associated Press that “the biggest seagulls I’ve ever seen” routinely smash into the building. Three windows have been smashed out and it will take $36,000 to fix them.
“You folks have got some giant seagulls here. Some of them look like they’re 60 pounds,” he said. “We find feathers and everything else underneath the windows, not to mention crabs that they drop from way up to smash them open and then eat.”
While gulls are an intractable hazard of life at the shore, the site’s main problems continue to drag on. Revel has been shut down for nearly a year, but has been mired in litigation between Straub and ACR Energy, its sole energy supplier.
Recent court filings, however, say ACR has defaulted on its loans and may not survive.
In a July 20 court filing, Julie Morrone, a principal of a management company writing on behalf of Bank of New York Mellon, told a court that ACR is running out of money, has defaulted on its loans and is in danger of failing because it can’t recoup its true costs from Straub under a court-sanctioned interim price agreement, the AP reported.
“In short,” she wrote, “ACR is in extreme financial distress.”
ACR controls a power plant built to supply Revel with power under its previous owner. The casino was the company’s sole customer, but Straub has been trying for several months to break the agreement. Under the previous agreement, Revel agreed to pay for the plant’s construction debt, but Straub has refused to go along with that plan.
The two sides have also been fighting over how much Straub should have to pay ACR for energy the state has mandated the company provide to keep fire safety systems at the building powered.
Officials for ACR declined to comment on the court filing, but did have something to say about the broken windows.
“Our concern obviously is the lack of air conditioning and the unequal pressure resulting from the unconditioned space,” Timothy Lowry, attorney for ACR told the AP. “The disparity in atmospheric pressure can actually cause windows to pop out and rain down, and the last thing we need is another Plywood Palace.”
Straub told the news service he plans to install his own heating equipment at the building by November and has plans for solar energy atop the building’s parking garage. He is also continuing work on an indoor water park at the site.
