A tour of an Atlantic City, NJ, casino that hasn’t seen a gambler in over 11 years

The year was 2014: a nationwide ban on the sale of incandescent light bulbs started, Jimmy Fallon began hosting "The Tonight Show" in New York City, and the new One World Trade Center building opened in New York City.

Meanwhile, in Atlantic City, a decades-old casino shut its doors.

And over 11 years later, the old Atlantic Club Casino remains a dark and dismal stain on Atlantic City's skyline. At least for now.

Like many things in the World's Play Ground, there are storylines upon storylines with this casino, but here's a very short version of its history.

History of Golden Nugget / Hilton / ACH / Atlantic Club in Atlantic City

This property opened in 1980 as the original Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, not to be confused with the current Golden Nugget by the marina. This was the sixth gaming hall in the city, and within just three years, it was the top-earning casino in town.

A series of ownership and name changes started in 1987 when the Golden Nugget was sold to Bally Manufacturing for $440 million and the building became Bally's Grand Hotel and Casino. In the mid-1990s, Hilton Hotels acquired Bally Entertainment and the facility changed to the Atlantic City Hilton.

In the summer of 2011, Hilton ended a licensing agreement with the firm operating the building and their name was removed; the property was rebranded as the very generic-sounding "ACH Casino Resort." In less than a year, ACH underwent yet another name change, this time to The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, a casino that attempted to attract locals.

That strategy ultimately failed and The Atlantic Club closed on January 13th, 2014.

Since then, almost nothing has happened at that casino, at least on the outside.

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Many attempts, none successful

The property has been sold a handful of times, each with a promise of reopening the building as a hotel and/or casino and/or "something." An idea was floated (no pun intended) at least once to turn it into a waterpark or family resort — that never happened. Stockton University, as they developed a huge campus in Atlantic City, attempted to buy the high-rise in 2018, but that deal never materialized.

Big plans are now in place

The good news is, in what may be its best chance at reopening in a very long time, news broke earlier this year that Colosseo Atlantic City, Inc., has plans to renovate the property, turning half of it into condominiums and the other half into a hotel that would, ironically, be operated by Hilton.

But until that happens, those in and around Atlantic City are left looking at a giant building that once was one of the grandest casinos on the east coast but is now a weathered shell of its former self. A reminder that time isn't the kindest commodity in Atlantic City and neither is the salty air.

What The Atlantic Club Casino in Atlantic City looks like today

Not too long ago, we took a walk around the exterior of the property. Compared to the other bustling casinos in town like Hard Rock, Borgata, and Ocean, this one sits eerily quiet. The clanks of quarters flowing out of slot machines are long gone, as are the thousands of people who used to flock to this building.

Before we share some pictures, we'll offer our usual disclaimer when it comes to things like this: This property is NOT abandoned. Security is on site. If you break in with plans on posting the next great urban explorer video on YouTube, you will be arrested. All of the pictures below were taken from city streets on the outside of the building.