The last vestige of the once-glamorous Atlantic City casino empire of former President Donald Trump was destroyed early Wednesday.
“In a controlled blast, the old Trump Plaza casino was razed at 9:08 a.m., collapsing “like a deck of cards,” as Fire Chief Scott Evans had previously expected.
Overall, it took less than 20 seconds for the building to collapse, crashing down in a massive dust cloud that enveloped the beach and boardwalk.
The Press of Atlantic City said that more than 100 people lined the New Jersey beach to witness the implosion of the Boardwalk casino that had fallen into disrepair since it was shut down in 2014.
Mayor Marty Small told the paper that at 4:13 a.m., he woke up. And he could not go back to sleep because he was too anxious to get down the “Trump Plaza’s eyesore.” But the old casino was the jewel of the real estate developer’s casino empire in its heyday.
For a time, Trump Plaza became the most popular casino in Atlantic City after it opened in 1984, and was a celebrity magnet.
Bernie Dillon, the events manager for the casino from 1984 to 1991, told the Associated Press, “The way we put Trump Plaza and the city of Atlantic City on the map for the whole world was really incredible.”
Demolition workers strategically placed explosives at several points along the support structures of the building to complete the implosion, knocking its legs out from under it and causing the building to collapse on itself, Evans explained.
The former casino, which used to advertise itself as “the centrepiece of Atlantic City,” was cleared to open up a chance for prime growth.
