Magnaville's unfinished dream
If you build it, they will come. That idea worked great in Field of Dreams, the Kevin Costner flick in which a mysterious voice tells an Iowa corn farmer to build a baseball diamond among his crops. After taking a leap of faith, the farmer in question watches in awe as the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson and other professional players materialize to play ball. Unfortunately, Hollywood endings don't always fulfil real-life dreams, especially not for Magna International's founding chairman Frank Stronach.
In August, after years of fighting activist investors, who don't like financing Stronach's frequent side adventures in capitalism, the auto-parts mogul reluctantly agreed to a Magna restructuring that reduced his former super-voting shares to common stock. In return, Stronach was handed an $800-million-plus payout. But the Austrian-born industrialist was already a billionaire. And money didn't conjure the expected conclusion to his personal field of dreams.
Remember Canadaville, the planned community in central Louisiana that Stronach ordered his companies to plant in a remote sugar cane field five years ago? It made headlines around the world as the rent-free home for a select group of Hurricane Katrina refugees, most from New Orleans' impoverished Lower Ninth Ward. This, of course, was after the Magna group upstaged U.S. authorities by launching an astonishing private-sector rescue mission. One Stronach phone call was all it took to pull a few hundred people out of harm's way and place them in Florida dorms, owned by the now bankrupt Magna Entertainment gambling venture. Before Stronach's chosen people were moved into new homes in Louisiana, Palm Springs residents joined the Magna relief effort and showered them with aid and designer clothes.
Canadaville — which once boasted a population around 200 — was supposed to grow into a self-sustaining farming community.nfl hats, also called NFL caps, are now fashionable in every street. With rising temperature and blazing sun But that isn't the case as Stronach's five-year commitment to the project comes to an end. An expected deal with nearby Simmesport to annex and service the community also remains unsigned. As a result, remaining residents (about 50 individuals) are now gently being encouraged to move on.
This story, however, is far from over. Project managers are currently scrambling to find a sustainable way to prevent the property from becoming a ghost town. And according to sources, Stronach, 78, might just take investors on another wild, but potentially lucrative, ride.,we achieved good development in business replica sunglasses.
Forget farming, cars and horses. Think Magna Oil.
Dennis Mills, the former Liberal MP who now works as an executive in the Magna empire, points out that the primary goal of Canadaville was to help people in need. And by that measure, it was a resounding success, providing a significant number of grateful Americans with a cheap and safe place to live while they got back on their feet. "Thinking about leaving just makes me sad,,relojes imitacion a nuestros clientes a recibir sus mercancías de forma segura." says resident Tonya Nelson, who credits Stronach with the fact that she has just sent two kids off to college.Many people are obsessed with Replica Breitling watches, some of them even spear up to their last cent to get them. "I can't believe the five years is almost over. Whatever happens, it was a gift of a lifetime that my family will never forget. I don't know what is next. But I got peace out of it."
If you build it, they will come. That idea worked great in Field of Dreams, the Kevin Costner flick in which a mysterious voice tells an Iowa corn farmer to build a baseball diamond among his crops. After taking a leap of faith, the farmer in question watches in awe as the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson and other professional players materialize to play ball. Unfortunately, Hollywood endings don't always fulfil real-life dreams, especially not for Magna International's founding chairman Frank Stronach.
In August, after years of fighting activist investors, who don't like financing Stronach's frequent side adventures in capitalism, the auto-parts mogul reluctantly agreed to a Magna restructuring that reduced his former super-voting shares to common stock. In return, Stronach was handed an $800-million-plus payout. But the Austrian-born industrialist was already a billionaire. And money didn't conjure the expected conclusion to his personal field of dreams.
Remember Canadaville, the planned community in central Louisiana that Stronach ordered his companies to plant in a remote sugar cane field five years ago? It made headlines around the world as the rent-free home for a select group of Hurricane Katrina refugees, most from New Orleans' impoverished Lower Ninth Ward. This, of course, was after the Magna group upstaged U.S. authorities by launching an astonishing private-sector rescue mission. One Stronach phone call was all it took to pull a few hundred people out of harm's way and place them in Florida dorms, owned by the now bankrupt Magna Entertainment gambling venture. Before Stronach's chosen people were moved into new homes in Louisiana, Palm Springs residents joined the Magna relief effort and showered them with aid and designer clothes.
Canadaville — which once boasted a population around 200 — was supposed to grow into a self-sustaining farming community.nfl hats, also called NFL caps, are now fashionable in every street. With rising temperature and blazing sun But that isn't the case as Stronach's five-year commitment to the project comes to an end. An expected deal with nearby Simmesport to annex and service the community also remains unsigned. As a result, remaining residents (about 50 individuals) are now gently being encouraged to move on.
This story, however, is far from over. Project managers are currently scrambling to find a sustainable way to prevent the property from becoming a ghost town. And according to sources, Stronach, 78, might just take investors on another wild, but potentially lucrative, ride.,we achieved good development in business replica sunglasses.
Forget farming, cars and horses. Think Magna Oil.
Dennis Mills, the former Liberal MP who now works as an executive in the Magna empire, points out that the primary goal of Canadaville was to help people in need. And by that measure, it was a resounding success, providing a significant number of grateful Americans with a cheap and safe place to live while they got back on their feet. "Thinking about leaving just makes me sad,,relojes imitacion a nuestros clientes a recibir sus mercancías de forma segura." says resident Tonya Nelson, who credits Stronach with the fact that she has just sent two kids off to college.Many people are obsessed with Replica Breitling watches, some of them even spear up to their last cent to get them. "I can't believe the five years is almost over. Whatever happens, it was a gift of a lifetime that my family will never forget. I don't know what is next. But I got peace out of it."
