Bids to demolish Trump Plaza in Atlantic City hit $60K, mayor hopes 'once in a lifetime' auction will cross $1M
Atlantic City is giving people the chance to bid on imploding President Donald Trump's former casino in February. And bidders are reportedly lining up to be the ones to push the detonate button on the structure. As of Saturday, December 19, morning, there were reportedly 15 bids that had reached $60,000. The implosion had been scheduled for January 29 but has been delayed to February, with no set date yet.
Bodnar's Auction, the auction house collecting bids for the planned implosion, labeled the experience to push the button and demolish the building as a "once in a lifetime opportunity”. The auctioneer advertised online: "This will be done remotely and can be done anywhere in the world as well as close to the Plaza as we can safely get you there! For several years it has been sitting empty and now is the time to end an era and replace it with something new.”
All proceeds from the auction will reportedly go to the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City. Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. hopes to raise more than $1 million with the stunt. During a press conference on Thursday, December 17, he said, "due to the fact of Mr. Trump's history here in Atlantic City — particularly on the back end where he played it out on a national stage, where he said he took advantage of the bankruptcy laws, took advantage of a lot of people, made a lot of money in Atlantic City, and then got out — I think it's extremely important that we do something worthwhile. And there's not a better organization than the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City."
"Some of Atlantic City's iconic moments happened there, but on his way out, Donald Trump openly mocked Atlantic City, saying he made a lot of money and then got out," Small said. "I wanted to use the demolition of this place to raise money for charity." While it is unclear how the land where the former casino currently stands will be used, Small is hopeful that it can be turned into a family attraction along the boardwalk. "We get one chance, we get one shot to make the difference," Small said. "It's not that often that inner-city oceanfront development opens up."
The Trump Plaza casino has been empty and deteriorating for the last six years. Trump opened the casino in 1984, but it went bankrupt and was closed in 2014. The property was one of three Trump-branded casinos that once formed the centerpiece of the world-famous resort city. For the last four years, billionaire developer Carl Icahn has owned the property which has been deemed by local officials as a public safety hazard. City officials have reportedly called several times for the idle 39-floor building to be torn down after chunks of the crumbling landmark repeatedly broke off and fell onto surrounding streets. Demolition work began on the casino earlier this year after Icahn and city officials reached an agreement to have the structure finally torn down. The last time a casino was imploded in Atlantic City was in October 2007 when the former Sands casino was dynamited for a new casino-hotel project.