The casino was detonated at 9 a.m. and collapsed in less than 20 seconds.
Demolition crews seen on two Donald Trump-linked properties this week blew up New Jersey’s former Trump Plaza Casino and separately shot down a Mar-a-Lago heliport in Florida.
Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza Casino was destroyed in a series of explosions at 9 a.m. that saw the luxurious waterfront building collapse into a giant cloud of dust in less than 20 seconds.
The former casino, frequented by celebrities, rock stars and athletes, opened in 1984, hosted several high-profile boxing matches attended by Trump and became public as “the center of Atlantic City.” .
It closed in 2014 and the luxury building fell into disrepair, causing it to be demolished.
Demolition crews had installed explosives along the structures of the building to get their legs out from below, causing the building to fall on itself.
“It will break like a card fight,” Scott Evans, chief of fire at The Associated Press, said.
For a time, the casino was the most successful in the city and appeared in the 2001 film “Ocean’s Eleven,” starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
“You had Madonna and Sean Penn walking, Barbra Streisand and Don Johnson, there would be Muhammad Ali, Oprah sitting in Donald’s ring,” Bernie Dillon, the casino’s event manager from 1984 to 1991, told AP.
“It was a special moment. I’m sorry to see it go,” he added.
When it closed, Trump Plaza was the lowest performing casino in Atlantic City.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small said the destruction had nothing to do with the former president.
“It’s not about Donald Trump. It’s not about politics,” Small said.
The property is owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, a donor and former Trump special economic adviser, who has yet to announce plans for the site.
Several people attended the implosion and a public viewing area was set up in Bader Field, where it cost $ 10 to park a car to look at it. Some hotels overlooking Trump Plaza also offer destruction packages.
Atlantic City roads and sidewalks closed from 6 a.m. Wednesday and are expected to reopen at 1 p.m.
Separately, in Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago demolition crews on Tuesday removed a heliport built during Trump’s 2017 presidency.
The 40- to 50-foot-wide heliport allowed Trump to carry Marine One to Palm Beach International Airport as far as Mar-a-Lago, although it was not used often.
Because of his position as president, he received an exemption from the Palm Beach helicopter-free zone rule, which was revoked after he left office, according to the Palm Beach Daily.
In this condition, he was allowed to have the heliport as long as it was used for presidential affairs and to be withdrawn when his term ended.
Pyramid Builders of Palm Beach carried out the demolition work, which is estimated to cost about $ 15,000, the Palm Beach Daily News reported.