School’s Showboat Plan Stymied

Stockton University purchased the casino last year and planned to use the building to house a satellite campus. But a covenant in an old contract between former Showboat owner Caesars Entertainment and the neighboring Trump Taj Mahal apparently stipulates the Showboat remain a casino in perpetuity.

School president Herman Saatkamp said in a statement to the Press of Atlantic City that Trump does not want a campus near its casino and plans to enforce the covenant, which could threaten the university’s financial stability as it works to remedy the matter with the city.

“We cannot afford to just hold this building with no incoming revenues while the two casinos play their own gamesmanship,” Saatkamp said. “We are still working to resolve the issue with Trump Taj Mahal. Should that not work, we are making plans to sell the property and hope that we will be able to close reasonably soon.

“If we are not able to sell soon, we will close as much of the building as possible and reduce the number of employees on our payroll that we hired to tend to the Island Campus, and unfortunately, the building will sit empty.”

The Showboat was still profitable when it closed its doors in September. The school was reportedly assured the covenant issue had been resolved when it purchased the property in December for $18 million.

“The result of this morass is that Atlantic City will lose a major economic and community engine and Stockton students lose out on some wonderful academic opportunities,” Saatkamp said. “I still hope this will turn around.”