Acting Atlantic City (NJ) Fire Chief Scott Evans has voiced concerns regarding potential fire risk in the massive, currently unoccupied Revel casino.
The Press of Atlantic City reported that the owner of Revel Casino Hotel violated fire code when he dismissed the property’s team of engineers, and a violation noticed was delivered to the property. Owner Glenn Straub decided Tuesday to stop employing nine union engineers at the property, leaving no competent person to oversee the casino’s fire sprinklers, fire alarms, smoke-evacuation equipment, and emergency elevators.
The report noted that Straub said Wednesday that engineering giant Siemens is training replacement engineers to oversee the 6.2 million-square-foot campus.
“It’s the second-tallest building in the state of New Jersey and one of the largest on the East Coast,” Chief Evans told the Press. “To train someone in several hours to be able to operate the life-safety (system), it’s just not possible.”
Revel, the most expensive construction project in the state’s history, opened in the spring of 2012, according to a report in the New Yorker, but went bankrupt within a year. It restructured and emerged from Chapter 11 only to go bankrupt again in 2014, ultimately closing in September before being purchased by Florida developer Glenn Straub.
