Bridgeport tried to declare bankruptcy in 1991, though a federal judge found it solvent-barely-and denied the attempt.īut in March of 1995, after Trump’s announcement, Bridgeport’s voters approved a referendum to allow a casino to be built on the waterfront. Neglected and decrepit buildings littered the waterfront of New England’s fifth-largest city like the ruins of a lost civilization. Its urban core hollowed out, the city’s infrastructure was crumbling and blight was fast taking over-Detroit on the Pequonnock. De-industrialization had driven many of the area’s factories out of business, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs. Which was true, so long as no one else did either.īridgeport in the mid-1990s had fallen on the same hard times that had decimated so many other American cities. Notably, Trump also told the assembled media that he had no plans to build a casino on the site. The term “world class” was tossed around with abandon.
At a joint press conference with Ganim that June, Trump touted the 2,000 part-time and 500 full-time jobs the complex would create.
