HARTFORD, Conn. -- Jim Griffin isn't taking no for an answer in his quest to keep the historic Colt factory complex from being turned into apartments.
The former congressional candidate and Bristol businessman has tried to raise money for more than two years for the Sam and Elizabeth Colt Center for American Historical and Industrial Heritage - an organization he founded with the goal of bringing a museum to the complex.
"I've lost my whole life savings trying to do this stupid thing so that Hartford doesn't make a dumb mistake," Griffin said.
But the owner of the Colt building wants nothing to do with Griffin and says it is prepared to get a restraining order against him.
"Let me be clear," said Robert A. MacFarlane, a principal with owner Homes for American Holdings Inc. "He is not working with our company. We have not authorized his work with Colt Gateway in any way, matter or form. We don't need it, don't desire it, are not seeking it. Period. The next thing we'll do is notify the attorney general."
MacFarlane said an attorney for Colt Gateway has already sent Griffin a letter telling him to stop fund-raising.
"I don't know what else to do," he said.
Griffin insists MacFarlane is just playing hard to get.
"I would not raise money if we knew definitely that Bob would not do this, but Bob has never said that to me," Griffin said.
Griffin, who ran unsuccessfully in 1998 for the Democratic nomination in the 6th Congressional District, said he planned to meet Sunday with the board of the Colt Collectors Association, a national group of collectors of Colt firearms and memorabilia, hoping they will donate $30,000. That, he hopes, will persuade MacFarlane to give him a lease.
"A lot of wonderful causes have started with a lot of people saying 'no' first," Griffin said.
MacFarlane he has no choice but to legally stop Griffin from his pursuit of a museum.
"It's almost dangerous that someone can go out there and ask for money for Colt and not have any relationship with Colt whatsoever," MacFarlane said.
The former congressional candidate and Bristol businessman has tried to raise money for more than two years for the Sam and Elizabeth Colt Center for American Historical and Industrial Heritage - an organization he founded with the goal of bringing a museum to the complex.
"I've lost my whole life savings trying to do this stupid thing so that Hartford doesn't make a dumb mistake," Griffin said.
But the owner of the Colt building wants nothing to do with Griffin and says it is prepared to get a restraining order against him.
"Let me be clear," said Robert A. MacFarlane, a principal with owner Homes for American Holdings Inc. "He is not working with our company. We have not authorized his work with Colt Gateway in any way, matter or form. We don't need it, don't desire it, are not seeking it. Period. The next thing we'll do is notify the attorney general."
MacFarlane said an attorney for Colt Gateway has already sent Griffin a letter telling him to stop fund-raising.
"I don't know what else to do," he said.
Griffin insists MacFarlane is just playing hard to get.
"I would not raise money if we knew definitely that Bob would not do this, but Bob has never said that to me," Griffin said.
Griffin, who ran unsuccessfully in 1998 for the Democratic nomination in the 6th Congressional District, said he planned to meet Sunday with the board of the Colt Collectors Association, a national group of collectors of Colt firearms and memorabilia, hoping they will donate $30,000. That, he hopes, will persuade MacFarlane to give him a lease.
"A lot of wonderful causes have started with a lot of people saying 'no' first," Griffin said.
MacFarlane he has no choice but to legally stop Griffin from his pursuit of a museum.
"It's almost dangerous that someone can go out there and ask for money for Colt and not have any relationship with Colt whatsoever," MacFarlane said.