Trump Plaza in Atlantic City has been demolished. In video posted on Twitter by various users, a series of small blasts are heard before the building collapsed Wednesday morning in a pile of rubble. Icahn also bought the deed to the land under Trump Plaza but terminated the complicated lease on the property in late 2018.The building formerly known as the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was demolished Wednesday in Atlantic City, N.J., with spectators gathering to watch from several angles.Ĭlosed in 2014, the skyscraper was acquired out of bankruptcy court by billionaire Carl Icahn in 2016.

The President, then a real estate developer, cut ties with the resort in 2009, but his name temporarily remained on his casino properties. Trump properties in Atlantic City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991, including the Trump Taj Mahal Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts joined in 2004 and Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009. There have been more than a dozen bids submitted to blow up the structure, according to, with the highest at $62,500 as of Dec. The implosion has gained attention nationwide, after Small created a fundraiser to raise $1 million from bidders vying to set off the implosion, earmarked for the Boys & Girls Club in Atlantic City. He was unsuccessful in selling the property to Hard Rock International the following year, according to reports. Billionaire Icahn took ownership in 2016 in a bankruptcy proceeding.

Trump opened the former casino in 1984 at what was considered a prime location adjacent to the city convention center and near the Atlantic City Expressway exit. The mayor wants all post-implosion cleanup completed before Memorial Day. One tower, which includes a Rainforest Café and a parking deck, will remain standing, he says. There will still be months of cleanup work by the contractor after the implosion, Small says, estimating a debris pile of up to eight stories. Work to demolish the building interior and remove portions of the structure got underway in August. Finch said the demolition certificate required approvals of nearby properties.

Site work began in April after Finch said he approved a demolition certificate. Finch said his department must inspect the implosion site before allowing it to proceed,Īccording to press reports, the demolition cost is estimated at $14 million.Ĭity officials pressed for action last spring after panels fell from the structure, exacerbated by corrosion and wind and water damage, although an Icahn executive claimed at the time that a demolition plan was in progress. H&K project manager Michael Schwartz confirmed that the demolition is set for February but did not provide a more specific new date from what had been planned originally for Jan.

Trump Plaza Hotel Casino Atlantic City