Located on the Jersey Shore, little over an hour from New York city (on a good day of traffic) is Asbury Park, New Jersey.   

If you like Elk Sausage and one liter mugs of German Beer there’s the Festhalle.  Then there’s the Zombie Walk holding the world record for largest gathering of Zombies.  St. Patty’s day is fun there as well.  The Stone Pony where The Boss – Bruce Springsteen got going…and of course the boardwalk on the beach.  The glory days were in the 1920’s through 1940’s, but it may be making a decent comeback now.

At both ends of the Asbury Park boardwalk, although one can continue on the boardwalk through both buildings’ arcades, there are two structures designed by Whitney Warren of Warren and Wetmore. On the south end is what remains of The Casino (1929) that replaced the old Casino that was destroyed by a fire and on the north end is the Paramount Theater, west of boardwalk, and the Convention Hall east of boardwalk (1930).

Warren and Wetmore are probably best known for Grand Central Terminal in New York city (1913).   Whitney Warren attended the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France; admitted through the entrance competition in 1887.  Warren and Wetmore supplanted the competition winners for Grand Central Terminal - Engineers Charles A. Reed and Allen H. Stem.  After Reed’s death, Warren and Whitmore took full credit for Grand Central Terminal.  This resulted in Stem suing and being awarded $500,000 in a settlement (1916+/-) and Whitney Warren being kicked-out of the AIA.  Depending on how you calculate that value, that’s the equivalent of $40 million at today’s dollar.  Warren’s cousin was William K. Vanderbilt, that was the Warren and Wetmore connection to Grand Central Terminal - how they essentially got the job to take it over.

The Casino in Asbury Park was built at $1.5 million (1929 prices, see link above) included in a redevelopment program of $5 million that included the new convention hall, Paramount theater, heating plant, and pavilions.  Below are pictures of these structures as they are today, and of course one photo of The Stone Pony.   

[The Stone Pony]

[above arcade entrance at north end of boardwalk]

[arcade at north end of boardwalk]

[Paramount Theater at north end of boardwalk, west side]

[Convention Hall at north end of boardwalk, east side]

 
[old school architectural emoji]

[detail at top of Paramount Theater]

[edited interior shot of arcade at entrance to convention hall]

[detail at arcade north end interior]

[what remains of the arcade at south end of boardwalk]

[column detail flanking arcade at south end of boardwalk]

[top of column detail flanking arcade at sound end of boardwalk]

[interior detail of arcade at south end of boardwalk]

[former Carousel enclosure (currently indoor skate park) at south end structure of boardwalk][underside of former Carousel enclosure]

[dented detail at former carousel enclosure]

[powerplant at south end]

References:

"Asbury Park Revisited" by Lisa Lamb, 2015

"Americans in Paris" by Jean Paul Carlhian and Margot M. Ellis, 2014