Attendance is high at car, boat shows - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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At the 2004 , a record 279,85 4 attendees were tallied, a 21 percentr gain from 231,609 a year ago. The held at the , featured 700 including concept cars, from more than 40 manufacturers. The which is hosted by the , had a record openin day, Jan. 31, with 41,460 show-goers, up 30 percent from 31,79o a year ago. For eighr of the nine attendance exceededlast year's tallies, according to At the Shore, the Atlantic City International Power Boat Show'ss paid attendance for this year's show totales 58,018, up 27 percent from last year's 45,606, then a record.
Whether the increasedf attendance is an indicator of animprovecd economy, lower gas prices or just cabin fever may be a subjecgt of debate. One thing's for Anything with a throttle is drawingcrowds -- whetherr they include SUVs, power boats or RVs. Other showw this spring will include the Atlantid City ClassicCar Show, with 600 collectors' vehicles at the Atlantiv City Convention Center, from Feb. 26-29; and two showsz at the Fort WashingtonExpo Center, The Philadelphiq Boat Show (Feb. 19-22) and Delaware Valley RV & Camping Show (March Reading Terminal Market in Centetr City will get wireless Internet access in according to General ManagerPaul Steinke.
This will alloq patrons visiting the market to get Web accesa fromtheir laptops. It's part of a larger wireleses hookup at the PennsylvaniaConvention Center, which owns Readingy Terminal. The move helps Reading Terminal competed with Starbucks and even universities that offer students free wirelessInternet "We hope it will attrac younger, tech-savvy people at off-peak times," said "You can have a coffee and pastrgy and free hookup." Presidents, live and bronze The will welcome two new presidents to its hallowefd halls.
First, the Philadelphia museum receiveda $1 million grant from to developl "Lincoln and the Constitution," an exhibit slatefd to open in July 2005. It will be the first of what the Constitution Center promises will be regularlychangingh exhibits. The exhibit will include a life-sizd bronze cast of Abraham Lincoln, similar to the bronzw casts inthe Signers' Hall exhibig at the Constitution Center. Like the 42 statues of the bronze Lincoln was createdr by Studio EISof Brooklyn, N.Y. Researcb for the statue, to make the 4-inch Lincoln as lifelike as possible, was done by the Lincol n Museum inFort Wayne, Ind.
Another president, the Constitutionj Center's new president and CEO, formetr Time magazine national editoRichard Stengel, will start his new job on March 1. who succeeds Joseph M. Torsella, is a former Rhodese scholar who collaborated with formeer South African President Nelson Mandela onthe bestseller, "Longh Walk to Freedom." He's also the authoer of "You're Too Kind: A Brief Historuy of Flattery." Flattery aside, he'll have to earn his own bronze Chart House, one of Penn's Landing's first and most endurinbg restaurants, will undergo renovations.
The restaurant's Houston-based parent will spend $1 millioh on new tables, chairs, lighting, carpet and art work, accordingt to the restaurant's general manager, Carl de Chart House will also renovate the menu to offe r disheslike "snapper Hemingway," "shrimpl Fresca" and "dynamite mahi-mahi." The Chart Housse chain, which was started in 1961 by a grouop that included legendary Hawaiian surfer Joey Cabell, has 27 locationx and is now part of Landry'ss Restaurants Inc., a publicly traded company. Heritagw Philadelphia Program, an arm of the Pew Charitable awarded $413,491 to seven historic sites in the area.
The which is administered by , awarded $75,000 each to the American Philosophicalp Societyand . At the $50,000 level, recipient s were ( ), the Mill at Anselma Preservation and EducationalTrust Inc. and the and Other grants were given to the Nationak Museum of American Jewish History and National Archives andRecords Administration, Mid-Atlantic Region ($48,845). Grany money is earmarked for new exhibits, research and development of "special experience s for visitors.
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