I’ve been hoping for this since 2021 — Convention Hall is finally saved

I've been following the rebirth of Asbury Park since 1999 and in 2023 when I observed when Madison Marquette first floated the idea of a massive rehab for Convention Hall, the Paramount Theatre, and the old Casino. I considered the plans exciting and so welcome back then, and I meant it, but I also know how these things go. Big plans get announced, tax credits get discussed, and years pass while a beautiful old building just sits there, closed, waiting. That's exactly what's happened to Convention Hall since around 2021, when the city shut the main hall and the Paramount Theatre down over structural safety concerns. (The Grand Arcade Walkway has remained open.)

This week, the waiting part finally ended.

The state just put real money behind it

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved a Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion Program tax credit award of up to $75 million, supporting a full $130 million restoration of the Convention Hall complex, Convention Hall itself, the Grand Arcade, and the Paramount Theatre together. NJEDA CEO Evan Weiss called it the next chapter in the building's "ongoing legacy," and Madison Marquette president Gary Mottola put it even more directly: "Asbury Park is rooted in music, and the legendary Convention Hall is a center of that. This CAFE award will ensure that Asbury Park remains a cultural heartbeat of the State for generations to come." Asbury Park Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn called it a moment that took years of work and negotiation to reach, and she's not exaggerating. She'd know.

What's actually happening inside that building

The restoration is being done in accordance with historic preservation standards, meaning this isn't a teardown or a gut job, it's a genuine restoration of a 1929 landmark. Structural, mechanical, and architectural upgrades. The marquee. The lobbies. The mezzanines. The storefronts. The performance spaces themselves. ADA access upgrades so the building is actually welcoming to everyone walking through those doors, not just the people who could always get in easily. The goal is turning the whole complex into a year-round performing arts center, not just a summer-season venue that goes dark every fall.

SEE ALSO: How Tillie ended up on The Wonder Bar isn't the story you'd guess 

photos by EJ

Why this one actually hits different for me

I've spent a lot of this year writing about Asbury Park's comeback, the luxury condos going up a few blocks from the Wonder Bar, Tillie's whole complicated history, one of the most perfect beach days I can remember broadcasting live from the boardwalk. What I didn't fully realize until this week is that some of the photos I took walking through this exact building this summer, that empty Grand Arcade hallway with the Stone Pony Summer Stage sign propped up, the view straight out through those huge green-framed windows onto a packed beach, were photos of a building that was already this close to finally getting saved. I just didn't know it yet.

photo by EJ

Convention Hall has hosted music, theater, dance, film, sports, conventions, and just about every kind of civic event this state has thrown at it since 1929. It deserves its second century. Looks like it's actually going to get one.