President Trump’s vacant former hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is officially set to be demolished nearly six years since closing, Mayor Marty Small said Thursday.
Mr. Small, a Democrat, announced plans to tear down the former Trump Plaza during a press conference held in front of the building on Atlantic City’s famed beachside boardwalk.
Opened in 1984, the building has been vacant since Trump Plaza closed its doors two decades later in September 2016, much to the annoyance of city leaders.
Scott Evans, the chief of the Atlantic City Fire Department, noted during the press conference that emergency officials have responded to several incidents at the building involving debris, such as sheet metal and paneling, that has fallen from the building onto the boardwalk below.
“Vacant buildings are not good for our communities,” said Mr. Evans, a Democrat who previously served as the city’s mayor. “They’re hazardous, they’re dangerous, they’re eyesores.”
Carl Icahn, a billionaire investor who bought the property in 2018, approached city officials last week with his plans for tearing it down, Mr. Small said at the press conference.
“It’s even better than we initially thought,” Mr. Small said, noting that the plans call for demolishing more of the massive property than previously expected.
The mayor added that the plans call for tearing down the building in June 2021, but he said that’s “not acceptable” since it would be in the middle of the city’s busy season.
“My administration’s goal is to get it down by the end of the year of late February,” Mr. Small added.
Trump Plaza boasted more than 900 hotel rooms and 86,000 square feet of gaming space in its prime. It was the fourth casino in Atlantic City to close its doors in 2014. Another nearby casino previously owned by the president, the Trump Taj Mahal, closed in 2016.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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