Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun, arguably Detroit's most reviled billionaire, has failed in his latest attempts to fend off new competition. Today, a federal judge dismissed all but one of Moroun's arguments regarding the planned $2.1 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge. One notion the court rejected is the idea that Moroun's Detroit International Bridge Co. somehow has exclusive rights to any bridges that link Detroit and Windsor.
Moroun can't seem to let the monopoly go, even taking it to the extreme of attempting to build another bridge to Canada without permission from the state of Michigan, the federal government, or Canada. For his trouble, he spent the night in Wayne County Jail, though not in gen pop, and with his meal catered by the Detroit Athletic Club. Wayne County Sherif Benny Napoleon, who later received $50K from the Moroun family for his mayoral run, approved this special delivery.
Given Moroun's penchant for unpopular choices, especially where his second most famous property, Michigan Central Station is concerned, we're wondering if the latest roadblock to a permanent Moroun family Detroit bridge-to-Canada monopoly will result in any delays to the installation of over a thousand new windows on the long-vacant train station. This summer, Moroun and the city entered an agreement ceding city-owned park land to Moroun. One condition of this pact was that Moron restore the train station's windows, and we've seen progress at Michigan Central in July and August, for the first time in years.
In her 57-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer dismissed seven out of eight Moroun arguments in the 5-year-old case. No word yet from Bridge Co if they plan to keep pursuing the lawsuit. The Gordie Howe International Bridge, seen above in an artist's rendering, is expected to link the Michigan and Ontario in 2020. The new bridge will be paid for largely by the Canadian government, which expects to offset costs via tolls it collects on both sides of the river.
·Most Moroun challenges to new Detroit bridge tossed [Detroit News]
· Detroit Athletic Club sent dinner to Moroun in jail [mLive]
· Moroun family lies [Metrotimes]
· "Matty" Moroun Does Nothing Just Because He Can [MI Headlines]
· Matty Moroun Anoints Napoleon With A $50,000 Donation [Deadline Detroit]
· Windows at Michigan Central: Curbed's Exclusive Pix [Curbed Detroit]
· Angling for a Deal: City to Transfer Park Land to Marouns [Curbed Detroit]
· Morouns lose on virtually all counts in bridge lawsuit [Detroit Free Press]
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