Trump Plaza casino demolished in Atlantic City, marking end of era
Tina Davis, Sophie Alexander and Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg News The former Trump Plaza casino is imploded on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Atlantic City, N.J. , The Associated Press
Trump Plaza, the first casino Donald Trump ever built and a faded vestige of Atlantic Cityâs glamorous past, came crashing to earth Wednesday morning in a cloud of dirt, dust and noise.
Carefully placed explosives imploded the 39-story white tower on the Atlantic Ocean, which stood empty for years. City officials were keen to destroy it amid complaints that chunks of concrete were falling off the building. A few hundred people in cars paid US$10 to park at a former airfield less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away on a freezing, winter morning to watch the Plazaâs final destruction.
A spot on the Atlantic City Boardwalk where movie stars, athletes and rock stars used to party and a future president honed his instincts for bravado and hype was reduced to a smoking pile of rubble.
The former Trump Plaza casino in New Jersey in the United States was imploded on Wednesday after falling into such disrepair in recent years that chunks of the building began peeling off and crashing to the ground.
A series of loud explosions rocked the building around 9am (14:00 GMT) as spectators looked on from a distance. The structure’s collapse started almost like a wave from back to front until it went straight down in a giant cloud of dust that enveloped the beach and boardwalk. Overall, it took the building less than 20 seconds to fall.
However, the charity auction fell well short of Mayor Marty Small s ambitious goal of raising at least $1 million for the local Boys & Girls Club chapter.
The 10 highest auction bidders earned a dinner for two in Atlantic City, an overnight stay at either the Hard Rock or Ocean Casino Resort, and tickets to view the implosion of the former Trump Plaza building from an event space along the boardwalk.
Wednesday s charity auction was the city s second attempt to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club in conjunction with the demolition of the former Trump Plaza building.
An auction that would have awarded someone the opportunity to press the detonation button was called off last month due to a legal dispute. The building s property owner, Icahn Enterprises, declined to facilitate the auction due to safety concerns and issued a cease and desist order.