Monthly Archive for July, 2006

The Niagara Condominium Residences

There have been several articles lately in the news about a proposed high-rise condominium that would be built along River Road in Niagara Falls. I visited the area and took some pictures.

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The condominium will be at the corner of River Road and John Street.

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The lot itself doesn’t look that large or impressive. According to the news articles, it would be built on a fairly large/thick “pad” so that it will be built on level ground.

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There is a house up John Street that I guess will be torn down. The Notice of Public Meeting was in front of the house rather than near River Road.

The City of Niagara Falls

Public Meeting

Date - June 12, 2006 7:00 PM
Council Chambers, City Hall
4310 Queen Street, Niagara Falls

File - AM-06/2006

City Council will consider an application to change the official plan and the zone by-law for these lands to permit a 29-storey, 250-unit residential development with a maximum building height of 98 metres (321 feet)

Additional information and a copy of the written notice available by contacting the Planning & Development Department
City Hall, 8:30 - 4:30, Telephone 356-7521

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There was one of these signs on John Street and River Road. They were exactly the same other than the line at the top.

Beauty, as far as you can see. River Road sign

A wonder of the world as your neighbour. John Street sign

Coming soon

Luxury condominium Residences from $169,900

The Niagara
Condominium Residences

Register now at
www.niagaracondos.ca
or call 1-866-297-5042

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This is a view from River Road towards the Falls. You can clearly see the Rainbow Bridge, and the white area in the background is the American Falls. You can imagine the view that a 321-foot building would have.

The web site is pretty bare right now. There is a very small rendering of what the building would look like and then a form to fill out if you are interested in getting more information.

In a previous posting, regular reader Dan asked what my opinion of it was. I kind of have a mixed opinion. It is quite far away from the actual Falls themselves, so it won’t be blocking anyone else’s view. It’s probably going to bring owners who are a bit more affluent, which may be good for the area. But River Road has all sorts of nice old, big homes, and this will kind of go against that. It’s always a tricky thing balancing heritage with modern design. We are facing the same thing in St. Catharines/Port Dalhousie right now (I live in St. Catharines). I suspect that the development will go forward.

Banners everywhere!

I never really noticed it before, but it seems like there are banners everywhere. There have been banners on Clifton Hill for years, but recently I’ve noticed a lot more. I posted previously about the new banners on the Classic Iron Motorcycle Museum, and I’ve taken pictures of several more. I guess it is a cheap and easy way to advertise.

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These banners are on all the lights by the Niagara SkyWheel.

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Every light on Clifton Hill used to have these banners. Now there are only a few left.

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These are new banners that are at both the Skylon Tower and IMAX Theatre. I like the “The Falls BIG View” line on the Skylon Tower banner. Is that supposed to be in comparison to the Niagara SkyWheel?

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These banners are on all the lights on Oneida Lane. I guess it is supposed to draw you down the lane to Casino Niagara.

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The side of the Casino Niagara parking garage (under the Fallsview Waterpark) there are banenrs for casino parking.

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The street level parking lot of Casino Niagara has lots of these banners.

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I posted previously about these banners on Falls Avenue promoting the Fallsview Waterpark.

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These banners outside the Niagara Falls Aviary are faded and weather-worn.

Niagara Falls Restaurant Map

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I’m sure many of you are familiar with web-based mapping services. Mapquest was one of the first, and as with a lot of their services, Google is coming on strong. Their Google Maps service allows something that people call mashups. A “mash-up” allows you to take a set of data and plot it out on a map.

Restaurantica provides this sort of mapping for restaurants across North America:

Restaurantica is your interactive online guide to the restaurants in your local community. This website features listings for over 12,000 restaurants and thousands of informative restaurant reviews contributed by our community. If you are planning on dining out sometime soon, you’ll want to see what the Restaurantica community has to say first!

It’s a neat service. They even have a page for Niagara Falls restaurants!

July 2006 Clifton Hill Resorts Update newsletter

Yesterday I received the July 2006 issue of the Clifton Hill Resorts Update newsletter. It contained all the normal information such as trivia, hotel package promotions, and information about the hotels and attractions. One thing jumped out at me though, and it looked a little odd. The aerial picture that they use that shows both hotels is a little old. You can see Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf still at Clifton Hill. That was moved several years ago. It appears they have digitially added the Niagara SkyWheel to the picture where the old Golden Griddle and Quality Inn Clifton Hill front desk used to be. The wheel looks a little off, almost like it is folding in or collapsing to the right of the picture. I’m sure they’ll get a new aerial shot done soon.

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As always, you can subscribe to the Clifton Hill Resorts Update newsletter by visiting the Clifton Hill Newsletter page.

Putting falls in historical spotlight

From the Buffalo News:

As strange as it seems, this world-famous tourist destination desperately seeks recognition - from the federal government, anyway.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., is drawing up legislation that would establish the Niagara Falls Heritage Area, a designation that would mean up to $1 million in federal money each year for the land near the falls.

Schumer said the bill will be ready to submit to both the Senate and the House within a month. The move recently won the support of the National Park Service.

The $1 million in federal money will become available after passage of the legislation, which is expected by the end of the year.

But there is more riding on this than $1 million a year, said Niagara Falls activist Paul A. Dyster, who has been pushing for the designation since 2000, when he was a member of the City Council.

“It’s not just about the money; it’s about the recognition,” Dyster said. “Niagara Falls is an international landmark, but thus far, the federal government - and specifically the National Park Service - have not been major partners in the protection and improvement of the area.”

A David and Goliath story

From the Niagara Falls Review:

Opponents of a plan to put a 29-storey condominium tower on River Road say they need to be “better prepared” for an Ontario Municipal Board hearing than they were for the city council meeting where the project was approved.

“After we got surprised by the council decision, we decided we had to be better prepared,” said John Prentice, a John Street resident whose home will sit in the shadow of the proposed condo tower. One that would become the tallest residential building in Niagara Falls.

Whirlpool Jet Boat Getaway in Lewiston

News 10 out of Syracuse has a brief story on their web site and an accompanying video of the Whirlpool Jet Boat rides:

How about a boat ride? This one is a thrill a minute. All 45 minutes! That’s how long you’ll be taking on class 5 rapids, turning 360’s and enjoying the beauty of nature all along the mighty Niagara River.

Whirlpool Jet Boat rides begin at the South Water Street Landing in Lewiston, New York every day May through October. They are in their 15th year of taking people of all ages (6 years old minimum) on an exhilerating jet boat ride into the Niagara River Gorge including the Niagara Whirlpool and the Devils Hole Rapids.

The 2 1/2 minute video clip (it’s linked to in the article) does a nice job at introducing the ride and interviewing a few people who rode on it. It’s worth taking a look.

Niagara Fallsview Casino July Spotlight

I received the Niagara Fallsview Casino July Spotlight on Tuesday:

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To subscribe, click on the Spotlight Updates link on the right side of the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort main page.

Niagara Falls’ majesty, tackiness can inundate you

From USA Today:

Rich in natural beauty and man-made kitsch, Niagara Falls has in its history tempted and terrified and inspired feats both amazing and harebrained. Now it’s the subject of a PBS special, Niagara Falls: An Intimate Portrait, airing July 5. John Grant, executive producer and co-author of the companion book of the same name talks to USA TODAY’s Jayne Clark about one of the continent’s most powerful images.

Tourism bouncing back: Survey

From the Niagara Falls Review:

Niagara Falls Tourism in the first quarter of 2006 was “awesome,” said Niagara Falls Tourism’s new manager and operators are looking forward to healthy second and third quarters, too.

“The first quarter of ’06 was great,” said Anna Pierce, who took over the organization in May.

“We had fantastic numbers. May and June were a bit disappointing, the numbers were good, but they didn’t keep up with the growth rate we experienced for January to March like we were hoping. But, preliminary indications for the summer are very good. A lot of (operators) are saying their pre-bookings are up in July and August.”