Casinos step up for Miss America pageant

John Curran

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002 | 9:55 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Casinos, restaurants and other local businesses have agreed to ante up in hopes of keeping the Miss America Organization solvent and the pageant in its original home.

A task force set up to help the organization's bottom line has made arrangements for new sponsorships, fund-raisers and perks that will help reduce the pageant's costs, its chairman reported last week.

The 20-member group is promising labor cost savings for producing the pageant at Boardwalk Hall, reduced casino hotel room rates and free meals for judges.

"A lot of people have stepped up to the plate, and it's really gratifying to see the city come together for this specific goal," said Mark Juliano, who also chairs the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority.

"The contributions from all segments of the community will add up to significant savings to the pageant and should enhance this year's event, and the committee has made great strides in improving relations between the community and the Miss America Organization."

The panel was formed after then-CEO Robert M. Renneisen threatened to move the pageant from Atlantic City because of rising production costs at Depression-era Boardwalk Hall.

In December he asked the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority for $1 million in new aid, in addition to the $678,000 subsidy the pageant already gets from the state.

The authority rejected the offer, but agreed to drum up community support aimed at easing Miss America's fiscal problems.

According to Juliano:

New sound and video equipment at Boardwalk Hall, combined with re-negotiated labor rates for electricians and stagehands, will help reduce the cost of staging the annual spectacle, which will be televised live from Boardwalk Hall on Sept. 21.

Casinos have agreed to cut room rates for Miss America judges, buy program book advertisements, hold special events in the week of the pageant and sponsor floats in the Miss America parade.

Two fund-raising events will be held. A Taste of Atlantic City, on Friday at Trump Taj Mahal, and a Miss America Golf Outing, today at Ballmor Golf Club.

The task force, which has had six meetings, will resume work after the pageant, when actual figures for costs are available, Juliano said.

He said he believes the city is no longer threatened with loss of the 81-year-old pageant.

"I think it has passed, but anything's possible, with the kind of year they've been having," Juliano said.