Atlantic City Is Offering Bidders The Chance To Blow Up A Former Trump Casino

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Evening light illuminates the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino earlier this year in Atlantic City, N.J. The city’s mayor, Marty Small, says that the right bid will buy one lucky person the right to activate the casino’s planned implosion next month.

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«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, Mayor Marty Small told The Associated Press. «I wanted to use the demolition of this place to raise money for charity.

The Trump Plaza, one of three major properties in the city once owned by the president, formally folded after a final spasm of layoffs in 2014. But by then, Trump had already shuffled off most of his stake in the casino. He retained just 10% of Trump Entertainment Resorts, the casino’s parent company, as part of a deal after the company declared bankruptcy in 2009. (It would file for Chapter 11 protection again in 2014.)

The casino is now owned by billionaire businessman Carl Icahn. While Trump’s other major Atlantic City properties — the Taj Mahal and the Trump Marina — have revived with changes in name and ownership, the Trump Plaza has languished in disrepair for the better part of a decade.

Earlier this year, witnesses filmed as high winds tore off pieces of the crumbling facade and sent them tumbling to the ground from great heights. Demolition work began on the casino earlier this year after Icahn and city officials reached an agreement to have the structure finally torn down.

Now, Mayor Small hopes the right to finish it off will draw bids in excess of $1 million. We’ll find out soon: The AP reports that auctioneers will solicit offers through Jan. 19 and assemble the highest bidders for a live auction 10 days later.