For the right price, you can literally blow up one of President Donald Trump’s former casinos.
Atlantic City is set to demolish the dilapidated former Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino on Jan. 29, and plans to auction off the chance to trigger the explosives that will bring the building down, the Associated Press reported.
Mayor Marty Small hopes the stunt will raise over $1 million, with those funds going to 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.”
Investor Carl Icahn owns the former Trump Plaza building and agreed to the demolition. The property has deteriorated significantly; earlier this year, pieces of the facade of one of its towers broke and came crashing to the ground.
Bidding is open through Jan. 19, and the top bidders will then participate in a live auction to win the prize.
The hotel and casino opened in 1984 and hosted several high profile events over the years, including boxing matches. It was one of four casinos in Atlantic City to close in 2014.
Trump owned two other casinos in the city, but he largely divested from all three casinos in 2009. The properties kept using his name under a licensing agreement, but not for long: In 2011, the former Trump Marina sold to the Golden Nugget chain and rebranded under that name. And in 2017, the former Trump Taj Mahal sold to Hard Rock International, and reopened as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino the next year.
The outgoing President has often criticized city officials, blaming them for the Atlantic City’s economic woes.
[Associated Press] — Dennis Lynch