Atlantic City will have to put up with the eyesore that is the shuttered Trump Plaza casino for a little while longer.
On Tuesday, the Press of Atlantic City reported that no demolition permit has yet been filed for the Trump Plaza casino, which has been standing derelict since billionaire Carl Icahn’s Trump Entertainment Resorts shut the financially struggling property in September 2014.
The Plaza was supposed to have been imploded this spring, and Icahn’s ownership group has reportedly been shopping around for a guy with a lot of reasonably priced dynamite on hand. But Icahn apparently hasn’t given up his futile quest to have the municipal government shoulder nearly half the tab for turning the Plaza to dust.
While everyone wants to see the Plaza gone so some productive use can be made of the prime land in the middle of AC’s boardwalk, the city won’t allow demolition to take place during the busy summer tourist season, as the demo would necessitate closing portions of the boardwalk. So the earliest possible demolition date won’t come until the fall.
WILLIAM HILL US CONFIRMS OCEAN RESORT CASINO SPORTSBOOK DEAL
Meanwhile, the US division of UK bookmaker William Hill has confirmed last week’s reports that it has agreed to run a sportsbook at the Ocean Resort Casino (the former Revel). William Hill US CEO Joe Asher announced Tuesday that his company was “very excited … to have a presence on the Atlantic City boardwalk.”
Hills’ new sportsbook will occupy a 7,500-square-foot space “in the heart of Ocean’s gaming floor,” complete with “state-of-the-art video wall technology for viewing of sporting events and live InPlay betting odds.” Hills will also provide the casino with its “best-in-class mobile and online sports book products,” although the casino has yet to be approved for online gambling by state regulators.
Ocean Resort Casino is scheduled to open on June 28, shortly after New Jersey legislators are expected to have approved new sports betting regulations. Hills has a similar sportsbook deal with the state’s Monmouth Park racetrack, which is expected to take the state’s first legal wager once the governor signs the regs into law.
