Remington Arms Factory in Bridgeport Connecticut To Be Demolished

The Remington Arms factory in Bridgeport, Connecticut is a spectacular 1.5 million-square-foot structure of 13 interconnected buildings stretching over 76 acres. Now its future is imperiled. Long a monument on the city’s East Side, it was originally built by the Remington Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Company beginning in 1915 to fill an order for one million rifles and 100 million rounds of ammunition to supply czarist Russian armies. Later, the building turned out bayonets, Colt automatic pistols, Browning Machine Guns, and automatic rifles. In 1920, General Electric purchased the property, and produced thousands of small kitchen appliances in the plant, but GE slowly pulled manufacturing from the building, and closed it entirely in 2007.

Full Story – HERE

  • Google Street View – HERE
  • Google Satellite View – HERE
  • Some more pictures of the actual building, and ghost stories – HERE (It definitely does look spooky in these pictures)

Whenever I see old buildings like this, all I see are luxury lofts!

Think Tribeca / SOHO in NYC … this would be perfect for such a project.  Maybe there isn’t a market for such a development in Bridgeport though? I have never been, and I have no idea how sprawling the real estate and job markets are there.  The building would definitely work well though.  Plus, how badass would that be to live in a luxury version of an old Remington factory?  These industrial areas never seem to be in very low crime areas either, but from what I’ve observed, as long as you have security and indoor parking people don’t seem to mind.  If I were in charge of the project, for posterity there would have to be at least one building dedicated to firearms.  It looks like there would be more than enough room for a few indoor ranges; judging by the satellite view the individual buildings are approximately 100m in length.

No matter what, I hope they find some use for the buildings.  I’d hate to see them demolished, but the sad truth is that the bricks are probably worth a mint and will be sold to builders who will pay a premium, and use them in new homes.

Hat Tip: LifeAList


Comments

27 responses to “Remington Arms Factory in Bridgeport Connecticut To Be Demolished”

  1. Thanks for the pingback!

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      You’re welcome, I enjoy your blog! I’ve had it in my RSS feed ever since I saw it on the Vuurwapen blog blogroll.

  2. […] « Remington Arms Factory in Bridgeport Connecticut To Be Demolished Apr 22 2010 […]

  3. CT Mike Avatar

    If you’ve ever been there, or to Bridgeport in general, you would not be thinking luxury lofts! Unfortunately this building is just another sad reminder of all the industry giants that are leaving/have left the state of Connecticut.

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      The area around the factory does look pretty shady. I’ll take your word for it that bridgeport in general isn’t a very nice place. Pretty sad that in such a short timespan industry went to crap there.

  4. Anywhere but Connecticut, and I would be asking how many Remington customers/fanboys it would take to buy the factory out and see what they could do with it.

    As it is… well, I will not be asking that :P.

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      hahah damn.. it’s that bad there? :P

  5. I’d never move in there. I’ve seen the Ghost Adventures show that you have posted above, and to me it’s just not worth it. It would be amazing to live in a place like that, but it can’t be haunted. That would just be insanely scary all the time.

  6. anyone that thinks that remington should be demolished ,or put f*kin condo’s there should be shot in there goddam head!!!

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      What do you suggest? Just have it sit there and rot?

  7. Having been in a bunch of these buildings myself, there’s really not a lot to salvage. Half of them are demolishing themselves and it would probably cost more to save them than to clean them up. Not to mention what it would cost to get everything safe and cleaned… The area surrounding these factories is terrible. Anyone who could afford a luxury condo wouldn’t go near this part of town, or really much of Bridgeport in general. Half the city is abandoned factories and store fronts anyways. Shame…
    I think they are a great view into the cities rich history and really could be made into something worthwhile but I don’t ever see that happening

  8. i think that you should demolish remington buildings and construct other factory complex and that can generate its own electric energy . so to compete with asian factories

  9. hellow my barnum school friends 1964 to 1965

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      I don’t get either of your comments Manuel.

  10. My comment of a factory complex generating it own electric energy is based of what some people say.For example, they say that making some items in usa cost 60 cent each while in asia is made for 20 cent each, what iam traying to say is,that with a plan and ideas we can minimisize cost of production. That can be passed to the costumers.

  11. Patty Gentry Avatar
    Patty Gentry

    My Mother, who passed in 2003, was one of the workers back during WW2 that was there when the explosion took place. (As stated on the “Ghost Adventures” TV show.) She always told us of the day she was sitting at her work table when she got the strangest feeling to hurry and get up and move to another part of the plant. Just after she did, the steam pipe above the table she had been sitting at just minutes before exploded and killed several people.

    1. Patty Gentry Avatar
      Patty Gentry

      WOW, That’s really something. An EYE witness.

  12. PATTY FIRST OFF SORRY BOUT YOUR MOM ,SECOND F*CK THE GHOST HUMPER’S YOU SEE ON TV,AND IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMON SENCE YOU KNOW THE REASON YOUR MOM GOT UP AND MOVED TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION,YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA OF THE ENERGY THAT HAS MANAFESTED IN THAT PLACE,DO SOME RESEARCH! IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.

  13. Bridgeport Native Avatar
    Bridgeport Native

    The “Ghost Adventures” TV show you mention did not cover this facility (It covered the Remington plant on Barnum Ave. … with the famous shot tower, where there have been several suspicous fires in the last 2 years). This string of buildings (normally referred to as the GE plant) is in the process of being torn down, as of March 2012. The brick building rubble will be used to fill in the Mile Long Tunnel that connects the 13 buildings, and the site will be remediated (it would be a SuperFund site, if there was any money left in the SuperFund). As sad as it is to see these structures go, GE was using them for storage, and stiffed the city of Bridgeport on its taxes to the tune of $375 Million Dollars (US). We can only hope they replace it with a new center of commerce, creating job in Connecicut’s largest city. Progress at the cost of history, but progress none the less.

  14. Jessica Avatar

    You’re all idiots because this is the GE building not the Reminton Arms Building…get your facts straight before posting it online.

    1. ENDO-Mike Avatar
      ENDO-Mike

      haha piss off Jessica. This is a gun blog.. I don’t care that GE owns the building now.

      A direct quote from the article

      It was originally built by the Remington Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Company beginning in 1915 to fill an order for one million rifles and 100 million rounds of ammunition to supply czarist Russian armies. Later, the building turned out bayonets, Colt automatic pistols, Browning Machine Guns, and automatic rifles. In 1920, General Electric purchased the property, and produced thousands of small kitchen appliances in the plant

  15. Ray Henderson Avatar
    Ray Henderson

    I have a very box of .38 S&W Special Smokeless 50 Central Fire Cartridges, made at Reminton Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Co., Bridgeport, Connecticut. Wonder what year they were made…had to be before 1920 when GE took over the plant, right?

  16. Ray Henderson Avatar
    Ray Henderson

    I meant to say I have a very OLD box of .38 S&W cartridges.

  17. Bella you retarded cunt.

  18. luis dejesus Avatar
    luis dejesus

    all I can say is that the city of Bridgeport, ct. needs a facelift, because having all these gross, disgusting, dilapidated, all over this city. ive seen buildings in Puerto rico look-a-lot better-looking. than here that’s for sure. &you cant say that there isn’t any money.

  19. Mary Hiett Avatar
    Mary Hiett

    I have this old wood box that is dove tailed together,and I was wondering how old it is.I am seventy six now and I am getting rid of some
    of my favorite possessions,and I want to know the history,so I can pass it on to my son.Any help will be appreciated.
    Thank you,
    Mary Hiett

  20. 2017. They torn those buildings down around 2013-14. Empty field now. I heard they where going to relocate Warren Harding High School on the land but no ground has been broken yet. Time will tell. I’m a former resident of Bridgeport, CT. The city really began to decline in the early 80’s. When Crack hit and destroyed the whole East side of town. The city has been living with that stain for decades. The federal government and state capitol in Hartford decided to let city died. They tried making lofts in empty dept. stores downtown but that plan has since stalled. They where counting on the New York residents relocating but I don’t think the outreached worked. To bad because the city has some really good parks and beaches. Great fishing areas and only hour by train to NYC.