Hard Rock Casino continues property transformation in Atlantic City

Since July, workers have been removing the ruby-red minarets and onion domes that dominate the property’s facade as the transformation continues on Hard Rock’s newest property, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. The rebranded property is expected to open next summer.

The six two-ton stone elephants that once greeted patrons are now a distant memory. “It’s a transformation every day when you walk through there,” said Matt Harkness, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. “Nobody is standing still; we are moving at 100 miles per hour.”
In the past, Jim Allen, Hard Rock International chairman, joked President and former owner Donald J. Trump created a “hell of a theme” and the group would have to spend more than $30 million to remove the theme from the propert

The Taj Mahal property, which was opened in 1990, has been reduced to a nondescript white building that the group will turn into its newest resort.

“We are through most of the interior demolition,” Joe Jingoli, a partner in the project, said Tuesday as Hard Rock unveiled its first sign, located at the corner of Absecon Boulevard and Virginia Avenue. “Outside you see a lot of the domes and stuff coming off it.”

The group, which includes investors Jack Morris and Jingoli, is spending more than US$ 500 million renovating and rebranding the property. The project is expected to generate more than 1,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs, according to the company.

“We’ve spent a lot time taking signs down, and now we are putting one up,” Harkness said.
“We have been doing a lot of demolition; now we are doing the building.”