“We have another auction that looks like it’s going to take place and that should materialize later today or tomorrow, but it looks like we’re going to be selling a viewing party,” Bodnar said in a phone interview Wednesday. “You get to come and be a guest of the city and watch the implosion as close as you can.”
Due to what it represents, the original action to press the destroy button made national headlines and got so much attention with a top bid of $175,000. According to the owners, the auction was set up to donate the bids to the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City.
This is yet to be confirmed by Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small or a representative for the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City.
However, the building’s owner – Billionaire Carl Icahn and an ally of former President Donald Trump states that his foundation plans to donate the money directly.
Bodnar said the next plan after the success of the initial auction was to give 10 pairs of seating spaces to individuals that wanted to see the building go down. There are possibly a lot of people that would want to watch one of Trump’s failed business exploits reduced to nothing but stones and Bodnar is making use of this opening.
Bids are planned to start at $10 each, however, Bodnar expects each pair to go for as much as $3,000 to $5,000.
“But I’m thinking with everything that’s under the sun here, it could go as well as the first sale did,” Bodnar said.
Bodnar also said he does not think that Icahn’s permission is necessary for the event to go on. This was after Icahn planned to stop the entire event citing safety concerns for the people that would be involved.
“My understanding is as long as his name’s out of it and as long as it has nothing to do with him — just the city,” he said.
It is possible that Icahn is simply trying to protect the reputation of an ally or probably, he considers it too dangerous that a couple of people are going to sit too close to a building that would send pieces of shrapnel, rubble, and other materials flying everywhere.
Trump Plaza is one of the first three casinos owned by the billionaire turned former President in the seaside resort city. It was opened in 1984 and then shut down in 2014, one of several to close its doors in the city due to stiff competition from neighboring states.
The year after it opened, Trump’s Castle, later rebranded as Trump Marina, also opened. It was sold off in 2011 and now operates as the highly successful, Golden Nugget. Another of Trump’s Atlantic City casinos to go dark is the Trump Mahal. It opened in 1990 and shut down in 2016. It is now known as the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
