NEW YORK – It was built to showcase the United States of America to the world, and over 6 million visitors made it the most popular pavilion at the 2015 world’s fair in Italy.
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Two years later, the government-designated nonprofit group that ran the U.S. pavilion at the Milan Expo is bankrupt, leaving $28 million in debts.
Attempts at a federal bailout have stopped. The pavilion is being dismantled. And creditors bristle that a high-profile project done in America’s name plunged them into a financial hole.
The nonprofit pavilion group and the State Department say they tried to close the financial gap but couldn’t.
The fallout comes as the U.S. seeks to host a world’s fair of its own in Minnesota in 2023 . A decision is expected this month .
