Stockton's plan to use former Showboat casino as a college campus falling apart

One of the few bright spots among Atlantic City's brutal casino contraction — the conversation of a shuttered casino into a college campus — is on the verge of going dark.

Stockton University bought the former Showboat casino last year and planned to turn it into a satellite campus.

But an obscure 1988 legal covenant between the casino's former owner, Caesars Entertainment, and its next-door neighbor, the Trump Taj Mahal casino, appears to be thwarting those plans.

College president Herman Saatkamp says the clause requires the Showboat to always be used as a first-class casino resort. He says Trump Entertainment Resorts is enforcing the covenant.

Saatkamp says Stockton is trying to work out a deal with Trump, but will sell the property quickly if one can't be reached.