State Of NJ Planning A Huge Renovation Of Asbury Park's Convention Hall

ASBURY PARK, NJ — The state of New Jersey is planning a $130-million renovation of the Asbury Park Convention Hall, plus the Paramount Theatre and the Grand Arcade inside.

The entire complex will be renovated inside and out, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) announced this week.

Construction actually started in April and will take more than two years to complete, according to the Daily Voice.

But the NJEDA said it already approved up to $75 million in tax credits to help get the restoration done.

"This is a great step that has required years of work and negotiation," said Asbury Park Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, who is running this year for mayor. "We look forward to working with the NJEDA and Madison Marquette to ensure one of the most historic and iconic structures on the East Coast is restored to its former glory."

But she did add —

"These (tax) credits come only if Madison stays in compliance," Quinn warned.

The owner of Convention Hall is developer Madison Marquette. Madison Marquette came under intense local opposition this winter when it came to light that they quietly planned to demolish the Breezeway section of the Asbury Park Casino, another aging and abandoned building on the Asbury Park boardwalk. In February, hundreds of locals gathered in the bitter cold to save the Asbury Park Casino from the wrecking ball.

(Madison Marquette owns both the Convention Hall and the Casino; they are located a short distance away from each other on the Asbury Park boardwalk.)

But now, Madison Marquette appears to be fully on board with plans to renovate the Convention Hall. It was the developer who had to apply to the state to get that $75 million in tax credits.

“Asbury Park is rooted in music, and the legendary Convention Hall is a center of that,” Gary Mottola, president of Madison Marquette Asbury, said this week. “This (tax credit) will ensure that Asbury Park remains a cultural heartbeat of the state for generations to come.”

Top officials in Gov. Mikie Sherrill's administration say they want to reopen Asbury Park's Convention Hall as a performance space for the arts again.

The state of NJ is calling this "the Asbury Park Convention Hall Music & Performance Venue’s Restoration, Revitalization & Modernization Project," and Sherrill's administration said the goal is to "bring Convention Hall, Paramount Theatre and Grand Arcade back to life as year-round entertainment destinations."

The restoration will be done in accordance with historic preservation standards, so the 97-year-old Convention Hall will keep its historic look.

The heyday of Convention Hall was when it was a 1920s-era performing arts center overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It opened in 1929 and permanently closed in 2021, with building inspectors saying it was unsafe for human occupancy.

Save The Asbury Park Casino (February 2026)