It took about a month, but the Falls Tower finally came down. Yesterday the gondola was off, and then either yesterday afternoon or early this morning the rest of the tower itself came down. Now we’ll see what’s going in there…
Monthly Archive for November, 2006
Things seem to be moving well at the new Motel 6 on Stanley Avenue. I haven’t looked into how many floors it will be, but the 4th floor is done and they’re working on the 5th floor.
They are making progress, slowly but surely. This isn’t a great picture, but the gondola is now gone. I would guess that the rest of the tower will be down very soon.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The Niagara Parks Commission has teamed up with the Winter Festival of Lights to offer Niagara residents the chance to enjoy a seasonal dinner and then take in the lights along the Niagara River.
The Night of a Million Lights tour began Nov. 4 and runs through Dec. 23, then Dec. 26 and Dec. 30. The evening includes being picked up anywhere in the Niagara region on a Niagara Transit bus, dinner at Table Rock Restaurant, including soup, a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, seasonal dessert and a non-alcoholic beverage for $32 per person, including taxes and gratuities.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Privatizing the GST visitor rebate program is a “good compromise” for a government eager to divest itself of the scheme and an industry desperate to save it, local tourism stakeholders said Monday.
“Privatization is the best compromise,” said Anna Pierce, general manager of Niagara Falls Tourism. “The government is free of it, tourism operators can still take advantage of it and a private company can run it.”
In September, the federal government announced plans to scrap the program, which allows visitors to claim back the GST on accommodation and other purchases with receipts of $50 or more, claiming the $78-million cost to run the program isn’t worth the expense since only three per cent of visitors use it.
The news shocked Canada’s tourism industry, which has been hit with a series of setbacks since Sept. 11, 2001.
As has been mentioned both in the blog and in the forum, the Falls Tower is coming down. However, it is taking far longer than I ever expected. Regular contributor Fallsview posted some pictures of it coming down. I was actually in Boston Pizza for lunch when that portion was coming down (I wonder if Fallsview and I saw each other but didn’t realize who the other person was). The tower itself sure was a lot thicker than I thought it was. Laying on it’s side it must have been at least 10 feet high (in diameter).
Anyway, the tower is still not totally down. On Thursday they only took down the top half. The bottom half is still there as you can see. The WWE ride in the background is on the left, and the Boston Pizza / Sportszone tower in the foreground on the right.
I came across a photo blog where a person visited Niagara Falls. If you start here (Nov 15), you see a picture of the American Falls. You can then click the >> to view Nov 18, 20, and 21. The pictures aren’t anything special, but I figured I’d link to them anyway.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
On the seventh day of the seventh month of the new millenniums seventh year, a brand new Seven Wonders of the World will be announced. And just like last time, Niagara Falls wont be among them.
Whats that? We ARE on the list? Not according to the original Magnificent Seven as chosen by Dutch architect Maerten van Heemskerck, who used Greek source material to make his picks nearly 500 years ago.
There have been other lists - some which included Niagara Falls - but Heemskercks roll call has long been considered the uncontested Seven Wonders of the World.
Until now.
Based on all of the comments from a recent posting, people have a lot of fond memories of Maple Leaf Village!
As others have noted, there aren’t many web sites around that have good information or pictures on Maple Leaf Village. I did some searching and this is what I’ve found:
- Maple Leaf Village commercial (from RetroJunk.com) - This is a TV commercial for MLV starring Garfield the cat. I don’t ever remember seeing this on TV, but it’s kind of neat.
- Historic Niagara Digital Collections - “Tourist Attractions - Maple Leaf Village” - This is from the Niagara Falls Public Library picture collection. This is the MLV category.
- Maple Leaf Village entry on Wikipedia
- Closed Canadian Parks - Maple Leaf Village - Most people interested in MLV have seen this site. It has information on the park and some pictures.
And of course, don’t forget the posting I did a year ago about Maple Leaf Resort…
From the Niagara Falls Review:
There’s still room at the inns. There are about 250 hotel rooms still available in next week’s Sleep Cheap, Charities Reap promotion, says event co-ordinator Ald. Jim Diodati.
Hotels with rooms still available are the Best Western Fireside, Hampton Inn North of the Falls, Marriott Courtyard and Comfort Inn Clifton Hill.
Reservations should be made directly with the hotels.
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