WIRTSCHAFT
Letztes Trump Casino in Atlantic City wird implodiert
February 17, 2021 -
Der ehemalige Donald Trump Casino Komplex in Atlantik City wird im Februar mit Dynamit zur Implosion gebracht -- damit verschwindet von der Skyline ein Gebäude, das zum Wahrzeichen der finanziellen Schwierigkeiten dieser Stadt geworden ist.
Atlantic City's former Trump Plaza, which has been closed since 2014 and is now owned by billionaire investor and former Trump supporter, Carl Icahn, has been in disrepair for several years, with pieces of masonry literally falling off the main tower into the streets below.
Trump Plaza hotel and casino complex, which Icahn bought out of bankruptcy in 2016, was due to be demolished at the end of January, but has been hit with demolition delays. It is now due to be imploded by dynamite at 9am on February 17, 2021. Presently, it is unclear what will be built on the site.
Donald Trump opened Trump Plaza in 1984, and was one of three casinos in Atlantic City with his name attached – the others being the Trump Taj Mahal (now the Hard Rock Cafe) and Trump Marina (now the Golden Nugget). In their heyday, his gambling enterprises employed 8,000 people in Atlantic City and accounted for nearly a third of the area’s gambling revenues. Trump Plaza itself was the entertainment hub of Atlantic City, hosting Mike Tyson's boxing matches and events such as the WWE WrestleMania tournaments.
Trump Plaza closed in 2014, after the business became unsustainable thanks to large debts, newer rival venues, weak local demand and negative press coverage which suggested Trump’s businesses were allowing money laundering – something later given credence when the Taj Mahal was fined $10 million for failing to report suspicious transactions.
The demolition of former President Trump’s defunct casino has caught the attention of people around the world, coming to symbolise the last chaotic days of his presidency.
In 2016, during Trumps presidential election campaign, he boasted of how he had taken “incredible” amounts of money out of Atlantic City, borrowing cash so his own wealth would not be depleted by his various businesses going bankrupt.
As for what blowing it up means to Atlantic City, Mayor Marty Small says simply, “Listen, it symbolises hope and opportunity”.
- Former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City to be blown up next month (Forbes)
- The slow dismantling of the old Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City has begun (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
- Trump Plaza implosion gets new date after yet another delay (NJ Advance Media)
- Atlantic ‘Trump turned this place into a ghost town’ (The Guardian)
- Casinos, gaming and poker (The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority)