Crumbling Trump Plaza in Atlantic City is DETONATED with 3,000 sticks of dynamite
‘Good riddance to Trump’! Crumbling 34-story Trump Plaza is detonated in 20 seconds with 3,000 sticks of dynamite as Atlantic City Mayor says it’s a fitting end to an era because the former president ‘was selfish and stiffed a lot of people’
- Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey was detonated on Wednesday morning
- Trump opened the complex back in 1984, but cut ties with the establishment in 2009; it closed to the public five years later
- The Plaza had 614 rooms, seven restaurants, and a 60,000 square foot casino
- In 1990, Japanese high roller Akio Kashiwagi lost $10 million in a baccarat session at the complex; the event was later fictionalized in the 1995 movie Casino
- Crowds wanting to watch the Plaza implode gathered on the nearby beach and cheered as the structure was reduced to a pile of rubble
The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey was detonated on Wednesday morning – seven years after it closed for business.
The 34-story establishment, which opened back in 1984 and became a popular tourist spot on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, was destroyed at 9am, with demolition workers using 3,000 sticks of dynamite to bring the building down.
‘This is the fitting end of Trump’s era,’ Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small stated, claiming that the former President ‘stiffed a lot of people and was selfish.’
Crowds who had gathered on the nearby beach to watch the detonation cheered as the building came down and a plume of smoke spread across the Boardwalk.
The nearby Caesar’s Atlantic City hotel also offered a ‘Stay and View’ special discount to those wanting to stay and watch the detonation. The special came with a complimentary bottle of champagne and a late check-out.
The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey was detonated on Wednesday morning – seven years after it closed for business
The 34-story establishment, which opened back in 1984 and became a popular tourist spot on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, was destroyed at 9am, with demolition workers using 3,000 sticks of dynamite to bring the building down
Crowds who had gathered on the nearby beach to watch the detonation cheered as the building came down and a plume of smoke spread across the Boardwalk.
Explosives were positioned at strategic points along the building’s support structures to bring it down
The establishment, which opened back in 1984 and became a popular tourist spot on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, will be imploded at 9am
The Plaza had 614 rooms, seven restaurants, and a 60,000 square foot casino. The complex is pictured back in its heyday
A woman is pictured playing the slot machines at Trump Plaza casino in 2014. President Trump parted ways with the establishment five years earlier
Trump and first wife Ivana are pictured with boxing promoter Don King at the Tyson vs Spinks weigh in at the Plaza in 1988
The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino once attracted A-list celebrities and became the place where the future president honed his instincts for bravado and style.
However, Trump cut ties with the venue back in 2009, when it was purchased by billionaire Carl Ichan.
‘The way we put Trump Plaza and the city of Atlantic City on the map for the whole world was really incredible,’ Bernie Dillon, the events manager for the casino from 1984 to 1991, told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
‘Everyone from Hulk Hogan to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was the whole gamut of personalities. One night before a Tyson fight I stopped dead in my tracks and looked about four rows in as the place was filling up, and there were two guys leaning in close and having a private conversation: Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty.’
‘It was like that a lot: You had Madonna and Sean Penn walking in, Barbra Streisand and Don Johnson, Muhammad Ali would be there, Oprah sitting with Donald ringside,’ he recalled.
‘It was a special time. I’m sorry to see it go.’
Ron Gatewood, a food and beverage worker at Trump Plaza from 1986 until its closing in 2014, brought food and drinks to stars including Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross and Barry White in their hotel rooms.
‘They were very down-to-earth people,’ Gatewood recalled. ‘They never made you feel less-than. They tipped very well. Well, some did, anyway.’
The Plaza is seen in 2014, around the time it closed to the public. Current owner Carl Icahn is demolishing the complex to prevent falling debris
The Plaza is located on the boardwalk at Atlantic City. The land on which the Plaza stood will now go up for sale
The Plaza was the site of many high-profile boxing matches, which Trump would regularly attend. He is pictured there in 1986 with boxing promoter Don King, to the immediate right of Trump, Mike Tyson (far right) and another unidentified boxer
Trump and his father, Fred, standing, and his young son, Don Jr, seated, are pictured at the Plaza in the 1980s
This Feb. 16, 2021 photo shows the former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City, N.J. on the day before its main tower, left, was to be imploded. The casino built by former President Donald Trump was once the playground of the rich and famous, but fell into disrepair after shutting down in 2014. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
In 1990, Japanese high roller Akio Kashiwagi lost $10 million in a notorious baccarat session at the casino. The event was later fictionalized in Martin Scorsese’s 1995 movie, Casino.
The casino even had a cameo in the film ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’ When George Clooney and Brad Pitt recruited actor Bernie Mac’s character to help with a Las Vegas casino heist, they plucked him from Trump Plaza, where he was a dealer.
However, things began to sour for Trump Plaza when Donald Trump opened the nearby Trump Taj Mahal in 1990, with crushing debt loads that led the company to pour most of its resources – and cash – into the shiny new hotel and casino.
The Trump Taj Mahal, one of the casinos acquired by Icahn, has since reopened under new ownership as the Hard Rock.
Trump Plaza was the last of four Atlantic City casinos to close in 2014, victims of an oversaturated casino market both in the New Jersey city and in the larger northeast. There were 12 casinos at the start of 2014; there now are nine.
By the time it closed, Trump Plaza was the poorest-performing casino in Atlantic City, taking in as much money from gamblers in 8 1/2 months as the market-leading Borgata did every two weeks.
The main tower of the former Trump Plaza casino is shown in Atlantic City, N.J., Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. By mid-morning Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 the 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 _ will be reduced to a smoking pile of rubble. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
This Feb. 16, 2021 photo shows a facade of the former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City, N.J. on the day before its main tower was to be imploded. The casino built by former President Donald Trump was once the playground of the rich and famous, but fell into disrepair after shutting down in 2014. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
This Feb. 16, 2021 photo shows the main tower of the former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City, N.J. on the day before it was to be imploded. The casino built by former President Donald Trump was once the playground of the rich and famous, but fell into disrepair after shutting down in 2014. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
This Feb. 16, 2021 photo shows the former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City, N.J. on the day before its main tower, in background, was to be imploded. The casino built by former President Donald Trump was once the playground of the rich and famous, but fell into disrepair after shutting down in 2014. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
A woman walks past the former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City, N.J. on Feb. 16, 2021, the day before its main tower was to be imploded. The casino built by former President Donald Trump was once the playground of the rich and famous, but fell into disrepair after shutting down in 2014. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
