Falls can’t fumble chance to cash in on Wallenda’s wire walk

From the Buffalo News: So, now Niagara Falls is on its own high-wire act: Can it do what is necessary to bring a Wallenda family entertainment center to the city or will it stumble, allowing the other Niagara Falls – the thriving one that knows how to make the most of a good thing –…

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Nik Wallenda Wants To Put Up An Entertainment Center

From the Associated Press (via WHAM 1180 in Rochester): Wire walker Nik Wallenda says he’s looking at the U.S. side of Niagara Falls to put a semi-permanent entertainment center. Wallenda made history in June when he became the first person to walk on a tightrope directly over the precipice of the falls. He tells local…

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Memories of Falls serve as inspiration

From the Buffalo News: When David Stebbins was growing up near 15th and Pine streets, the Falls fostered a love for cities that has carried through his decades-long career as an urban planner. “When I was a young boy, when you walked down Falls Street, the sidewalks were wall-to-wall people. There were shops and restaurants…

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Aquarium expansion could woo tourists into spending more time in the Falls

From the Buffalo News: The Aquarium of Niagara wowed visitors when it opened nearly a half-century ago. But many believe it is, as one lawmaker put it, a gem in need of repolishing. Aquarium officials are beginning the first steps of that process, and the state has pitched in to help. USA Niagara Development Corp….

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Tightrope walk, gay weddings, casinos? Niagara Falls open to anything for economy’s sake

From the Associated Pres (via Canada.com): In recent years, Niagara Falls has thrown open its doors to casino gambling, gay weddings and a tightrope walk that, until laws were relaxed, would have meant arrest. It even briefly considered taking in toxic wastewater from hydraulic fracturing… With its spectacular natural wonder — the famous waterfall that…

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Falls hotel plan funded

From the Buffalo News: A multimillion-dollar plan to convert a 1960s Niagara Falls hotel into upscale lodging has received $1.5 million from the USA Niagara Development Corp. The project to rehabilitate the 135,000-square-foot Days Inn Hotel on Main Street into a Courtyard by Marriott will cost $10.9 million. NFNY Hotel Managament owns the property, which…

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Niagara Falls Aquarium assessment approved for $66,100

From the Buffalo News: A $66,100 agreement to pay for an assessment of conditions at the Aquarium of Niagara, 701 Whirlpool St., was approved Wednesday by directors of the USA Niagara Development Corp., a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corp. The assessment is intended to help the aquarium make informed decisions about future reconstruction…

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Wallenda feat devolves into a political football

From the Buffalo News: It seemed like an event that even Niagara Falls couldn’t screw up.The son of a famous wire-walking family wanted to tempt fate at the region’s natural wonder. A national television network agreed to give the city more free advertising than it could buy. And thousands of people were vying to get…

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Carnival vibe enhances Hard Rock series

From the Buffalo News: Perhaps more than any other free, outdoor concert series in Western New York, Hard Rock Rocks Old Falls Street is presented as a community event more than just a big concert with basic concessions. Saturday night, the two blocks of Old Falls Street were filled with puppeteers, in-your-face mimes, vendors and…

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Wallenda debt splits two Falls mayors

From the Buffalo News: Nik Wallenda’s wire-walk made history and brought Niagara Falls worldwide publicity, but it also cost the two cities tens of thousands in public safety expenses. Wallenda has paid roughly half the tab on each side of the border, but the cities are taking two different approaches on collecting the remainder of…

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