Twenty years ago the lobbying was intense and the stakes high. In the end Connecticut’s effort to expand gaming to a new waterfront facility on the East Side was defeated handily by the State Senate led by Fairfield County gold coast legislators.
As a tonic to the casino hangover, a ballpark and arena were constructed as a sports entertainment complex at the edge of the Downtown. Mayoral candidate Mary-Jane Foster was part of a development team that proposed the complex. And 20 years later, in a few weeks, a ribbon will be cut by Mayor Bill Finch and a mayor-elect to open the first urban home for mega outdoor retailer Bass Pro Shops on the Steel Point redevelopment area.
WFSB Channel 3 revisited the casino debate 20 years later. Check out flashback video coverage that includes a young Joe Ganim as Bridgeport mayor and a young John Rowland as Connecticut governor.
A fun look back in time.
A casino would have created more problems than benefits. Indian- and state-operated casinos have popped up all over the Midwest and the South, from Minnesota to Mississippi. The first wave of ancillary businesses to follow are discount electronics stores and pawn shops. Then the mafia moves in with loansharking, robberies, etc. as if Bridgeport didn’t have more than enough problems to begin with.
The mafia would have had to wait in line behind Joe and John. The Ganim criminal enterprise operation would have been the mafia’s biggest headache.
Then again, some people would tell you the boys were hand in hand with Joe and his Gang.
A young Mayor Ganim and a young Governor Rowland; not to mention a corrupt Mayor Joe Ganim and a corrupt Governor John Rowland.
Birds of a feather, flocked together.
Think of the future. If Ganim and Mario couldn’t overpower Gold Coast interests and produce a casino 20 years ago, there’s no reason to think they could govern Bridgeport today.
(thud)
A lot has changed in 20 years. The man who started the corrupt spiraling down of the Ganim administration at the time, is now a candidate for president. Who knew?
You’re on drugs, Carolanne. Bad drugs.
It’s not just the Mayor’s office or the President’s office. They’re the face of our City and Country. Knowing what you know, do you really want to show the state or the Nation we don’t care how we are perceived by whom we elect for Mayor? We all know all the candidates are cut from the same cloth. I read a lot about how Bridgeport is the dumping ground for the surrounding towns. Look at what we’re really fighting for. I think our kids deserve better. The saddest part, if Bridgeport weren’t so “CORRUPT,” Gamim wouldn’t be in this mess. He probably would have been sitting in Malloy’s seat. People are not born “CORRUPT,” it’s facilitated and nurtured and that’s what was really going on in this election. Not even in hell would I ever be a part of that. This election is not just about Joe, he’s never going to have to live on food stamps or live in a homeless shelter. He’s never going to wonder how he’s going eat or where he sleeps. Where we go after this life, well that’s a whole game people and there is no campaigning in that. PS. Trump for president.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=cRly-0wwl_g
Bridgeport’s quest for morality has not changed in 20 years.
If Donald Trump had brought a casino to Bridgeport, it might be the latest edition to his bankrupt properties and Bridgeport might be home to a silent casino with blinking lights, stripped-down signs and an empty parking lot.
Yes. Ganim, Rowland and Trump.
Let’s here that story again. And again and again!
They should build a casino at Seaview Plaza. It would look much better than the WalMart Wood/Kooris negotiated with Bridgeport Landing to expedite the Bass Pro construction at Steelpointe. Now that MJF has reversed her position on Kooris, they can see through this vision of another sprawled East End gun store together.
Again you are full of it. MJF did not reverse her position on Kooris. She said he would be good for the office but not in a leadership role. What part of that don’t you understand? Every post today is pure bullshit, get some facts.
This is real.
Did the “copilot” tell you to say that?