A much-ballyhooed plan to raise funds for charity by auctioning off the right to implode the former Trump Plaza Casino has been cancelled.
According to news reports, bids had climbed to $175,000 when the auction was called off by the owner of the onetime Boardwalk casino, Carl Icahn. The charity in question isn’t out of luck, however—the billionaire said he’ll personally donate the same amount to the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City.
Former President Donald Trump, then a real estate developer, opened the property in 1984 at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway, at the height of the city’s casino boom, when he owned three casinos emblazoned with his name. The casino closed in 2014 and has since fallen into disrepair, to the point where barricades were erected to keep pedestrians away. Demolition work began last year, and the structure was to have been imploded January 29, but the date has been pushed back to February 17.
“From the beginning, we thought the auction and any other related spectacle presented a safety risk, and we were always clear that we would not participate in any way,” a spokesman for Icahn said in a statement.
The auction was the brainchild of Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, who hoped to raise more than $1 million for the Boys & Girls Club.
“We agree that public health and safety are the most important things in getting the building down,” Small said. “We do appreciate Mr. Icahn’s generous donation. We couldn’t be happier.”
Small came up with another scheme to raise money for the club, however. He’s arranged for special “viewing locations” to be made available to onlookers for a donation.
