Front page article in yesterday's Press of Atlantic City ...

By Donald Wittkowski

ATLANTIC CITY - LeVan Reber, an 84-year-old retiree from Ventnor who gambles at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort about once a month, looked down at the gaudy, neon-bright purple carpeting and smiled.

"His wife must have picked this out," Reber said sarcastically of Donald Trump's decorating style.

But which wife, Ivana or Marla?

Now Trump's ex-wives, both Ivana and Marla are long gone, but the purple carpeting that has dominated the Taj Mahal since its opening in 1990 remains.

In its own way, the outdated decor has come to symbolize Trump's ailing casino empire. His three cash-poor Atlantic City gaming halls have plodded along for years without major improvements while competitors have raced ahead with new hotel towers and flashy expansion projects.

"Our buildings have become dated," acknowledged Paul R. Ryan, executive vice president of hotel, food and beverage operations for Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc.

Hoping to catch up with the competition, Trump executives are planning to give their casinos a belated makeover financed by an investment bank that is buying a controlling interest in Trump's company.

The proposed $400 million cash infusion by Credit Suisse First Boston's private equity fund, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners III, is the first phase of a bankruptcy restructuring that will reduce Trump's $1.8 billion debt burden and free up extra cash for desperately needed capital improvements.

The centerpiece of the expansion plan is a 1,250-room hotel tower at the Taj Mahal, the sprawling, Indian-themed gaming palace that Trump once boasted was the "eighth wonder of the world."

Ryan estimated that construction would start in the first or second quarter of 2005 and take 24 months to complete. The 42-story tower is proposed on a Trump-owned site bordered by States, Maryland and Pacific avenues and the Boardwalk, next to the Showboat Casino Hotel.

Designs are still being completed, but Ryan indicated the new building likely would match the Taj Mahal's existing 42-story tower, also containing 1,250 rooms. The cost is not being revealed yet.

"The real future of the Taj Mahal is increasing our room capacity," Ryan said. "When it was first built, the Taj was designed to have multiple towers."

Connecting the twin towers would be new indoor retail attractions built in place of a wind-swept, outdoor veranda that is now wasted space.

Plans also call for 70,000 square feet of new convention space. Ryan said the Taj Mahal currently has 145,000 square feet of contiguous convention space, more than any other casino in town. He estimated that conventions represent about 10 percent of the Taj's business.

Wall Street analysts say new rooms and other amenities are exactly what the Trump casinos need at a time when rivals are building hotel towers and sprucing up their properties in a battle for market share in Atlantic City's $4.3 billion gaming industry.

"I don't go into the Taj and say the place looks horrible. I think it looks fine. But it needs to be positioned for the future by adding the amenities that people really want," said Jane Pedreira, gaming analyst for Lehman Brothers.

Recently, the Taj Mahal completed a $12 million, 18-month renovation of 900 hotel rooms, transforming them from garish shades of green, pink and purple to contemporary earth tones.

"Our standard rooms once had two color schemes, pastel pink or pastel green," Ryan explained, while trying hard to maintain a straight face.

Next, the Taj Mahal will undertake a $7 million facelift of 170 of its Sultan and Viceroy suites. There are also plans for new carpeting and wall coverings to give the property a fresher, more modern look.

Ryan could not say whether the casino will finally rip out and replace the much-ridiculed purple carpeting that snakes throughout the building.

"It's too premature for that," he said.

Although Trump executives are eager to redo the decor, some gamblers seem fascinated by the Taj's kitschy mix of colorful carpets, gold glass, white elephants, minarets and genies.

"I like the flash. It's certainly not like home," said Elizabeth Blumenthal, of Glenolden, Pa. "To me, the Taj Mahal means glitz and glitter."

Reber, the gambler from Ventnor, criticized what he called the Taj's "weird" layout, but said he never has to worry about being jostled by huge crowds.

"I prefer to gamble at Caesars. The only reason that I come to the Taj Mahal is that it is so big and it's never too crowded," he said.

Taj Mahal is the flagship of the Trump properties. The company's expansion plan will concentrate on the Taj, but extensive improvements are also proposed for Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and Trump Marina Hotel Casino.

Woefully outdated, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina seem like time portals to the past. The Plaza's brass-and-glass look is reminiscent of New York chic - circa 1980. The Marina's dull, brown-brick exterior has drawn comparisons to a hospital.

"We're very unhappy with the exterior of the building," Ryan said, noting that Trump Marina originally was built by Hilton Hotels Corp. and was purchased by Trump in 1985 for $320 million.

Hillier Architecture of New York is developing conceptual plans to refurbish Trump Plaza's casino space. In addition, all 900 rooms in the Plaza's two towers will be renovated as part of a $44 million makeover of the Boardwalk site, Ryan said.

Trump Marina, meanwhile, is in line for a $15 million improvement project, including room upgrades in the Crystal Tower and restaurant renovations that will capitalize on the casino's rock-and-roll theme. Ryan said Trump Marina will continue to promote itself as the "wild side" of Atlantic City.

Since it went public in 1995, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. has never been profitable. Ominously, its second-quarter loss increased this year to $17.6 million, compared to a $10 million loss in the same period in 2003.

Faced with dwindling cash reserves, the company has struggled to meet its $220 million annual debt payments. Little money is left for capital improvements.

"We've operated to pay the mortgage. It's really that simple," Ryan said of the company's financial bind.

The proposed Credit Suisse First Boston bailout is not only crucial for the company's survival, but will also help to finance the new hotel tower and other casino amenities. Without Credit Suisse's investment, the improvements will never materialize, Ryan said.

Under the deal, Trump Hotels will restructure its debts in bankruptcy court in coming months. Moreover, Donald Trump will relinquish majority control and step aside as chief executive officer, remaining as chairman and a minority shareholder.