AC issue causes Trump Plaza casino to close

A lingering air-conditioning problem forced the temporary closure of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino on Friday as temperatures outdoors swelled into the low 90s during Atlantic City's most profitable season.

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which owns Trump Plaza and two other casinos in Atlantic City, announced the closure just after 2:30 p.m. today. The company said Trump Plaza would reopen for business at 10 a.m. Sunday, with hotel guests let in by 1 p.m. the same day.

"We have decided to temporarily close both our casino and hotel because the utility issue that has shut down our air-conditioning has brought the quality of experience in our hotel below the standards to which we consistently hold ourselves," Trump Entertainment chief executive officer Mark Juliano said in a statement.

The AC problem in A.C. began early Thursday with a leak in a water main managed by Pepco Energy Services, the utility company that provides the chilled water that the three Trump casinos and other gambling halls in Atlantic City use to run their cooling systems. Pepco operates the thermal plant where the water is chilled and runs it underground through large pipes.

Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Marina were not affected by the leak and will remain open.

Caesars - which sits next to Trump Plaza on the central part of the Boardwalk - was also affected. But unlike Trump Plaza, it will stay open while trying to resolve the issue, according to Caesars and Bally's general manager Joe Domenico.

Domenico said cooling equipment, including generators and cooling towers that filled about 15 trailer trucks, arrived Friday, and was installed throughout the day to cool down Caesars. That process will continue much of Saturday, he said.

"By [Saturday] we hope to be back up 100 percent," Domenico said.

Still, Caesars lost about half of its hotel business with the displacements. Domenico said the casino hotel ran at 50 percent occupancy Thursday night, and it's typically at 100 percent occupancy this time of year.

The bulk of the hotel guests who were displaced were urged to move to Bally's, Caesars' sister casino that is connected to it.

A spokesman for Trump Entertainment said displaced guests of the 906-room Trump Plaza hotel were being transferred to hotels at the Taj Mahal and Trump Marina.

Initial estimates have Trump Plaza losing more than $1 million in revenue from the closure.

Contact staff writer Suzette Parmley at 215-854-2594 or sparmley@phillynews.com.