Total Makeover Planned To Transform Taj Mahal Into Hard Rock In AC
ATLANTIC CITY (CBS) -- Goodbye Taj Mahal. Hello Hard Rock.
Plans are to reopen the Atlantic City Hotel Casino in about a year, and suggestions are you'll hardly recognize the place.
Hard Rock's owners and two partners plan to pour $375 million into the makeover, from rooms to the casino floor to the outdoor facade that was all the rage when Donald Trump opened the place in 1990.
CEO Jim Allen told a crowd of a few hundred people, "You know the number's been kind of floating a little bit, but what I'll tell you is we're committed to do one thing and one thing only. Do it right. If we can't do it right, we're not going to do it."
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suggests the efforts of his administration, including the state takeover of Atlantic City government, played no small role in getting here.
"Hard Rock's willingness now to come in and invest significantly in Atlantic City shows you that they appreciate the hard things that have been done to restructure this city and to make it a place where investing makes sense," Christie said.
Some 1,000 people will be employed during the revamping of the facility, and plans are to employ 3,000 people when it opens next spring.
