The Senator was an oceanside hotel located at 166 S. South Carolina Avenue in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. Opened in 1930 as the Hotel Ludy, it became The Senator in 1935. The 16-story structure featured a distinctive rooftop sign "Sky Cabana". In 1967 it became an elder care residence. It was sold in 1997 and demolished in 1998. The hotel was designed in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style and opened in 1930 as the Hotel Ludy. Vintage postcards of the era boasted of a "Solarium - Modern, colorful, with three outdoor Ocean Decks overlooking Boardwalk, Beach and Ocean" and an "atmosphere of quiet cordiality". In 1935 the hotel was combined with the adjacent Hotel Iroquois and renamed "The Senator." In the summer of 1942 The Senator was leased by the US Army for use as Army Air Force Basic Training Center No. 7. The Senator would enjoy its heyday in the post World War II years and would become known for its "Sun and Stars" roof that featured tanning by sunlamps by day and converted to dining in the evening. At that time sunlamps were seen as promoting a "healthy-looking summer tan". A 1948 image shows a matron in a white medical uniform tending to the Senator's sun bathers. In 1955 the hotel became the home of radio station WLDB 1490AM with its studios located on the hotel's eleventh floor. (The call letters

WLDB WLDB (93.3 FM "B93.3 FM") is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is owned and operated by the Milwaukee Radio Alliance, a partnership between Shamrock Communications and All Pro Broadcasting. WLDB airs an adult contemporary ...

are currently assigned to an FM band station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.) The Senator declined along with the fortunes of Atlantic City, and by 1965 the hotel had closed. In 1967 it became an elder care center and operated as The Senator Rest Home, ICS Care Facility Retirement Home, and finally the King David Care Center. In 1997 the facility became bankrupt. The residents were relocated and the former Senator closed for good. It was sold for a casino expansion and demolished in 1998 after some of its terra cotta work was removed by an architectural salvage company.

References

{{Atlantic City casinos Residential skyscrapers in Atlantic City, New Jersey Hotels established in 1930 1930 establishments in New Jersey 1997 disestablishments in New Jersey Buildings and structures demolished in 1998 Hotel buildings completed in 1930 Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion Demolished hotels in New Jersey