The former Trump Plaza Casino on Atlantic City’s fabled seaside Boardwalk is due to be imploded at 9 a.m. this Wednesday, February 17. The demolition site, at the terminus of the Atlantic City Expressway, should be cleared before summer, according to city officials.
By scheduling the implosion on a weekday morning, without the fanfare that often accompanies implosions, the city may sidestep some crowding concerns in the Covid era. According to the Press of Atlantic City, Mayor Marty Small Sr. is urging spectators to gather at a onetime airport, Bader Field, to see the implosion.
For safety reasons, “We don’t want anyone near the downtown area” to view the event, Small said.
Also for safety reasons, the building’s owner, billionaire Carl Icahn, called a halt to a planned auction, which would have awarded the right to push the demolition button to the highest bidder. Bids had reached $175,000 and were to go to the Atlantic City Boys and Girls Club. Though the auction was called off, the club didn’t lose out: Icahn donated the same amount, and a second auction, which awarded prime viewing seats from the nearby One Atlantic event center, raised an additional $17,000.
Trump Plaza, closed since September 2014, in recent years has fallen into disrepair, to the point that it was deemed hazardous to passersby. Two smaller buildings that are part of the Plaza complex will be taken down separately.
