TLANTIC CITY, Dec. 18 Miss America without the Boardwalk?
It may sound unthinkable, but the pageant's chief executive warned today that the event was losing money and might leave Atlantic City, its home since it began in 1921, unless state and local officials "step up to the plate" with more concessions and money.
Speaking at a news conference here that seemed intended to turn up the heat on negotiations with local officials, Robert M. Renneisen Jr., president of the Miss America Organization, the nonprofit group that runs the pageant, said Miss America officials were "talking actively" with four interests in three states Connecticut, Florida and Nevada that want to play host to the pageant.
He would not name those interests, but speculation has centered on Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Mr. Renneisen played down the possibility of moving the pageant there, saying that another entity had submitted an offer in writing.
"We think we should stay," Mr. Renneisen said. "But we can't take that to the bank." A decision has to be made in three or four weeks, he said.
The annual pageant is televised from the Convention Center on the city's Boardwalk, through a contract between the Miss America Organization and the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority, an arm of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Mark Juliano, chairman of the convention authority, said today that there was a "gentleman's agreement" with the pageant organization not to negotiate through the media, and he intended to stick by it.
Mr. Renneisen said negotiations with the authority were cordial, but he declined to say how likely it was that the pageant would stay.
Already, he said, the convention authority has made major concessions in labor costs, but the pageant still needs to reduce the cost of producing the pageant by another $900,000 to $1 million.
What makes the other possible locations more attractive, he said, is lower production costs. He said that the offer received in writing would bring $692,000 in income, as opposed to a projected loss of $603,000 if the pageant is produced here.
Mr. Renneisen said he did not believe most Americans know or care that the pageant is held in Atlantic City, and said he did not believe it would hurt the pageant to leave. But he said it should stay, if possible, because of history and tradition.
