Trump Plaza will be the next Atlantic City casino to close.

Trump Plaza
Trump Plaza (Trump Entertainment)
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Trump Entertainment confirms to the Associated Press that no final decision has been made but expects the 39-story, 905-room facility to shut its doors by September 16.

"It's a very sad day for Atlantic City. This pattern of contraction has been very painful and has directly affected many thousands of lives in our community," said Longtime Townsquare Media Atlantic City talk show host Harry Hurley, a former senior executive for Donald Trump. "We have to all stay close and support one another during these incredibly challenging times."

The casino's 1,000 employees will begin to receive their Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) letters on Monday that legally gives them 60 days notice of closings and mass layoffs.

“This is potentially overwhelming,” state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) told the Press, adding up the expected job losses from the announced closure of the Showboat casino at the end of August and the Revel if a buyer cannot be found. “More than 6,000 people would be out of work. That’s a depression.”

Trump Plaza
Trump Plaza (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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As word spread of the closure, South Jersey Congressman Frank Lobiondo (R) tweeted his concern that Trump Enternainment has not made their plans public. "Plans should be made public. Concern for employees, families waiting for answers."

Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54 that represents Trump Plaza employees tells 6 ABC the news has not been confirmed to him.

Hurley thinks more closures are coming. "Unfortunately, we have not seen the last of casino contraction in the Atlantic City gaming jurisdiction. To watch Atlantic City go from a $ 5.2 billion dollar annual market to a  $ 2.85 billion dollar market. Following more than 35 years of market dominance, is literally heart-breaking for New Jersey," said Hurley.

Hurley predicts "America's Playground" can survive."The name of the game from here is to make our now halved leading industry as healthy as possible and maximize all non-gaming revenue opportunities to the maximum potential," said Hurley. "Atlantic City is not a dying market, it is simply a changing one. Atlantic City, throughout her history has been able to reinvent herself. She will rise, again this time."

Trump Plaza opened in 1984 by Donald Trump and owned by Trump Entertainment, which has unsucccessully tried to sell the casino. Trump Entertainment also owns the Taj Mahal. As the reality of the the decline in revenues at Atlantic City's casinos sets in, Trump's properties have topped many lists of the next properties predicted to close next

A representative for Trump Plaza could not be reached for comment.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

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