'Centerpiece of Atlantic City': Ex-Trump Plaza worker reminisces on eve of building’s implosion

Michael “Tewey” Hughes worked at Trump Plaza for nearly 30 years and was there on the day that it closed.

News 12 Staff

Feb 16, 2021, 11:15 PM

Updated 1,386 days ago

Share:

The former Trump Plaza hotel and casino in Atlantic City, which sat vacant since 2014, will be imploded on Wednesday morning
Michael “Tewey” Hughes worked at Trump Plaza for nearly 30 years and was there on the day that it closed.
“It used to be the centerpiece of Atlantic City,” Hughes says. “I had family there. That was my second home for years and years.”
Hughes says that he was saddened when the casino closed.
“It’s heartbreaking. I have to drive by it every day on my way to work. And it’s kind of sad to look at it and see it,” he says.
The Trump Plaza tower will disappear from the Atlantic City skyline at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The buildings in the front and in the back will come down soon after. Hughes says that he agrees that it is time to take the casino down. But he says that he can’t help but think of all the memories he made there.
"When it opened it was beautiful. It was all purple though because that was Donald [Trump’s] favorite color. Everything was purple, even the show room. The entire show room was just one color, purple,” Hughes says.
Hughes used to work in the service bar in the show room.
“The entertainers used to come back and talk to us all the time,” Hughes says. “Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra."
News 12 will have live coverage of the implosion beginning Wednesday at 5 a.m.