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Wayne Parry, Associated Press
Updated 21:13, Wednesday 27 June 2018
Atlantic City hosts 2 casinos closed to life
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – Over the years, many rides have attracted Atlantic City casinos, but this one was the king.
Joe Emanuele, whose extensive portfolio at Hard Rock International includes the discovery and securing of musical memorabilia, had located Elvis Presley 's Rolls Royce, had it purchased at an auction and the 39; had driven to the casino of Atlantic City.
It's one of two closed casinos that reopened on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of schedule, after being allowed to do so by the New Jersey gambling regulators. Hard Rock, the former Trump Taj Mahal, and the Ocean Resort Casino, the former Revel, both hold inauguration ceremonies on Thursday.
At 11 am, Hard Rock will host a mbad-guitar concert on the Boardwalk. At 1 pm, Ocean Resort will have a ribbon cut.
After a brutal two-year period in which five of its 12 casinos have closed, Atlantic City has nine. The reopenings have generated cautious optimism about the future of the seaside resort that was once the only place in America outside of Nevada with casinos, but which has suffered tremendously as the game's up and down. Extended to the States.
The Elvis car is one of the first things that customers see after going under the giant replica of a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar (cherry sunburst model) at the casino entrance. .
"I've always been a fan of Elvis," said Emanuele. Driving (very cautiously, with a police escort) from a nearby warehouse in Pleasantville, New Jersey, to the casino site, Emanuele parked his back in the same leather seat that once supported the king of rock & # 39. ; n & # 39; roll.
"You feel a bit of prestige behind the wheel," he said. "It's the Elvis car that he picked the Beatles when they came to Los Angeles."
The car is part of a vast treasure of memories exposed to the Hard Rock. There are dresses worn by Stevie Nicks and Whitney Houston, and guitars played by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Katy Perry. There is a leather stage outfit worn by Aerosmith guitarist, Joe Perry.
There's even a New Jersey memory room, including the handwritten lyrics of Debbie Harry's "Dreaming" of Blondie (a Hawthorne native) with stuff from Bon Jovi, Wyclef Jean, Southside Johnny and a telegram from Western Union confirming a payment of $ 20,000. Charles gave a concert at Steel Pier in Atlantic City in 1978. And no one has forgotten the chairman of the board; Frank Sinatra is also present.
Those who remember the tidy taste of Donald and Ivana Trump from the Taj Mahal era will not recognize the place: the rows of chandeliers that dominate the view as guests climb the main escalator up to At the casino are gone, supplanted by a giant silver guitar hanging from the ceiling. The video screens surrounding the escalators play excerpts from Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Nirvana and Johnny Cash as guests come down to the casino.
At the Ocean Resort, the owner Bruce Deifik has fixed most of what former customers of Revel said they did not like about the place. It now allows smoking, will have a buffet in a few months, has reconfigured the casino floor to make it easier to move, and glbad safety barriers have been installed on the main escalator which has made it hard to comfortable several customers.
It has a golf simulator, a restaurant where kids and their parents can order cereals at any time of day, and six pools. Among the popular features of Revel coming back, you'll find an outdoor nightclub and a rock'n'roll burlesque club.
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