| The abandoned Remington Arms Factory has become dangerous blight at Bridgeport. Memories loom large for Gary Hayduk who had worked here for nearly three decades; so too did his parents, aunts and uncles. Speaking two days after the recent string of outbreaks of fire Hayduk said that it was his mother’s first job here as a gunner. She used to test ammunition firing. More than twelve big buildings caught fire repeatedly in the plant that is lying abandoned.
During the middle of the 80s Remington Arms exited from Bridgeport selling off the sprawling complex in the East Side in 1986. The later owners started to manufacture as well as to lease out sections for motley small business concerns – cabinet builders, piano mechanics etc. For the last three years it has been lying vacant and prone to fires.
Hayduk looks out for big fires. He had been the last one to manage the estate of Remgrit – a company based in South Carolina that had purchased the place from Remington. Hayduk referring to the last one said most probably it was the fourth or fifth one.
The complex sprawling over 25 acres on either side of Barnum Avenue can be taken to be a symbol of the ailing northeast – the land choked with weeds, fencing topped with barbed wire, miles and miles of cracked parking lots and broken filthy windows.
The investigation for the last fire outbreak has not been completed. Till Monday 30th August the smoke was coming out. Machines had been licked by the flames inside the abandoned building. The firemen had to douse it with pressurized hoses.
Bill Finch, the Mayor is keen to bring down the entire eyesore to clear the way for a fresh round of development like another metro station or more parking lots. But he does not want fire to do the job for him. The present owner Remgrit Realty is not being cooperative. The owner is Sal DiNardo – a developer.
The city was mulling over plans to foreclosure on the estate to recover millions due in defaulting taxes. But Remgrit filed bankruptcy protection (Chapter 11) in 2008 forestalling the measure. The city is owed $14 million by Remgrit said Finch. He added, “We’re trying every which way we can”.
Squatters without homes have already moved into the buildings – some being over a century old. The local children play around skipping through yawning holes and loose planks while fires break out regularly. It is a death trap. |
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