2007 when the former Sands casino was dynamited to make way for a new casino-hotel project that ultimately was never built.The removal of the one-time jewel of former President Donald Trump’s casino empire clears the way for a prime development opportunity on the middle of the Boardwalk, where the Plaza used to market itself as “Atlantic City’s centerpiece.” The last casino implosion in Atlantic City was in Oct. “Not often does inner-city oceanfront land open up,” the mayor said. Small said he is eager to discuss potential uses for the land with Icahn once the casino is gone, including some sort of family attraction.

Icahn, owns the former Trump Plaza building, and has agreed to the demolition. In one storm, additional debris fell from the structure onto the Boardwalk. Earlier this year, large pieces of the facade broke loose from one of the hotel towers and came crashing to the ground. Trump Plaza has sat empty for six years, and has been deteriorating. That stake was extinguished when billionaire Carl Icahn took ownership of the company out of bankruptcy court in February 2016. Trump cut most ties with Atlantic City in 2009 aside from a 10% fee for the use of his name on what were then three casinos in the city.

The third casino Trump used to own here, Trump Marina, was sold to Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta in 2011 and is now the Golden Nugget. That property has since reopened as the Hard Rock casino. It closed in 2014, one of four Atlantic City casinos to shut down that year, followed by another former Trump casino, the Taj Mahal, in 2016. The SkyForce 10 above shows Trump Plaza being demolished in August 2020.

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Atlantic city trump casino auction