May 31, 2005
From: The Niagara Falls Review
By COREY LAROCQUE Review Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 31, 2005 – 02:00
Local News -
NIAGARA FALLS – Extensive landscaping and making use of a new generation of amusement park rides, like a high-tech ferris wheel, will make a family entertainment centre a good fit on Clifton Hill, says Harry Oakes, president of HOCO Ltd.
“We’re really looking to ensure the long-term vitality of the Clifton Hill area,” Oakes said following Monday’s council meeting.
City council approved his company’s application to build a $100-million family entertainment centre on the undeveloped land at the top of the escarpment, stretching from Clifton Hill to Robinson Street. It’s similar to an amusement park, but on a smaller scale, with up to 20 rides.
Attractions repeat visitors to Niagara Falls will be interested in seeing is the key to getting people to stay longer after they have seen the falls, Oakes said.
HOCO, which owns businesses on the south side of Clifton Hill, will build two roller coasters, a 28-storey hotel and two water parks. It’s an attempt to put an amusement park in an urban setting.
HOCO’s property sits directly west of Queen Victoria Park. Using landscaping features will make it fit in with the park’s existing natural setting.
“We’ve introduced 43 per cent of the site as streetscaping or landscaping,” Oakes said.
His family’s company has owned the site for years. Because it owns such a large site, it wouldn’t face the same urge to “maximize the density” of the area.
“We’re looking at the long-term family-ownership of the site as important to us,” Oakes said.
Developing HOCO’s site is an important step in linking Clifton Hill and the Fallsview area, said Oakes’ lawyer Victor Muratori.
“It’s a key property, along with the People Mover System, to create a link between these two subdistricts,” Muratori said.
Oakes said the 294-room hotel and a portion of the ferris wheel would be the only parts of the development seen from the park. At 175 feet tall, the ferris wheel will have glass-enclosed, heated cars to allow it to run year-round.
“We’re looking at a new generation of Ferris wheels … There has been a renaissance of ferris wheels throughout the world,” Oakes said, referring to their growing popularity at other famous high-end tourism locales.
The thought of a ferris wheel returning to Clifton Hill was an initial concern for Ald. Selina Volpatti, but she said she was satisfied Oakes’ plan was more upscale than the carnival feeling that used to exist across the street at the now-defunct Maple Leaf Village.
“You have to realize you have to keep up with the times. This is far removed from the carnival atmosphere (associated with Maple Leaf Village),” Volpatti said.
Two residents who live north of Clifton Hill said they were concerned more development in the tourism area could mean more noise in their neighbourhood.
“I really enjoy listening to the falls. It’s already diminishing,” said Marya Buckingham, an Eastwood Crescent resident. Noise from Clifton Hill already filters toward her home, she said. Buckingham urged council to be “judicious” about how the tourism industry is allowed to expand.
Oakes said studies show noise produced by the midway rides will be contained on his property because the rides are set back far enough from Clifton Hill.
ID- 111419 © 2005 , OSPREY MEDIA GROUP Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Niagara Falls Review acticles reprinted with permission by the authority of Joe Wallace, Managing Editor of the Niagara Falls Review.
May 28, 2005
Printed from Niagara Falls Review
By COREY LAROCQUE Review Staff Writer
Saturday, May 28, 2005 – 02:00
Local News -
NIAGARA FALLS – Roller coasters, a ferris wheel and two water parks would take Clifton Hill’s “festive atmosphere” to a new level if HOCO Entertainment and Resorts gets city council’s approval to build up to 20 amusement park rides, says Harry Oakes, the company’s president.
“We’ve looked at the whole market in Niagara Falls. We’ve picked our niche,” Oakes said Friday. His company already concentrates on attracting families and fun-seeking couples.
“We just want to improve on what we do.”
HOCO has asked city hall for a zoning bylaw amendment to build up to 20 amusements park rides and a 28-storey hotel along the top of the escarpment between Clifton Hill and Robinson Street. That parcel of land is 12.5 hectares (31 acres) and represents what one report calls “Niagara Falls’ most important underdeveloped site.”
The site isn’t big enough for a full-size amusement park like Marineland or Canada’s Wonderland. Oakes describes his proposal as a family entertainment centre, a “right-sized version for Clifton Hill.”
It’s modelled after Tivoli Gardens, a 160-year-old downtown amusement park in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rides would be installed on the site’s north end, toward Clifton Hill. The 28-storey hotel and two water parks (one indoor, one outdoor) would be built closer to Robinson Street.
Ferris wheels have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity since the London Eye was built as a millennium project in England. Roller coasters are “timeless” attractions, said Oakes.
Both appeal to families who have visited the falls in the day and are looking for at night entertainment, Oakes said.
Only the proposed 294-room Comfort Suites hotel and the 54-metre Ferris wheel would be visible above the treeline.
“You really only see the top 25 per cent of it when you’re in the park, due to the trees,” Oakes said.
HOCO already owns most of the property on the south side of Clifton Hill, where numerous attractions already operate, including the Great Canadian Midway and the Boston Pizza restaurant. Oakes opened them in 2002 and sees the family entertainment centre as a chance to expand on their success, he said.
City council is scheduled to debate HOCO’s zoning application at a planning meeting Monday night at City Hall. The city’s planning department recommends council approve the project, with some technical changes to the zoning bylaw. The city’s architectural peer review panel is “largely satisfied with the project, but wants proof that the hotel won’t affect wind patterns, a report states. But the Niagara Parks Commission has concerns about proposed changes to the Jolley Cut area and doesn’t support it without discussing some changes.
The entire project would require an investment of $100 million and would see the companies total number of employees increase to about 1,250 from 750 now, Oakes said.
If council approves the project Monday, HOCO would gear up immediately and be ready to start construction of the first phase in October with the goal of opening it next April, Oakes said.
ID- 111206 © 2005 , OSPREY MEDIA GROUP Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Niagara Falls Review acticles reprinted with permission by the authority of Joe Wallace, Managing Editor of the Niagara Falls Review.
May 17, 2005
Printed from Niagara Falls Review
By COREY LAROCQUE
Tuesday, May 17, 2005 – 02:00
Local News -
NIAGARA FALLS – The 59-storey Rainbow Tower Hotel proposed for Falls Avenue would have a view of both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and be visible from Buffalo and Toronto, says architect Michael Kirkland.
“We glory in the size of it,” said Kirkland who designed the building for Canadian Niagara Hotels, saying it will take on “iconic” status.
“This is a building that will affect the skyline of Niagara Falls for a very long time,” Kirkland said during a planning meeting at city hall Monday night.
Council voted 5-1 in favour of the application from Canadian Niagara Hotels to build the $130-million hotel tower between the Sheraton-on-the-Falls and Brock Plaza hotels.
The proposed tower was designed as two buildings in one – a 48-storey, 550-room hotel attached to an observation tower that stands 751 feet tall, Kirkland said. It would have one storey more than the Hilton Niagara hotel expansion the city approved last year, but would be 57 metres taller than that hotel planned for Fallsview Boulevard.
It’s designed so the higher up it goes, its orientation rotates toward the Horseshoe Falls, said Kirkland.
“This building goes up and expresses the sheer gravitational pull of Niagara Falls,” he said.
Because of its design, it will also take different appearances – what Kirkland described as a lantern, torch or silhouette – depending on weather conditions, time of day and the light it reflects.
At 229 metres tall, the Rainbow Tower Hotel will be the city’s tallest building. But because of its placement, it will only cast shadows on property owned by Canadian Niagara Hotels, Kirkland said.
In a recorded vote, aldermen Wayne Campbell, Jim Diodati, Joyce Morocco, Victor Pietrangelo and Selina Volpatti approved the project.
Ald. Carolynn Ioannoni was the sole vote against. She said she wanted to support it, but needed more details on a provision that would have the company contribute to city projects in exchange for exceeding the height limit.
“I think this application is premature. I wanted to support it. There are too many questions,” Ioannoni said.
Acting mayor Vince Kerrio and Ald. Janice Wing did not vote because they declared conflicts of interest.
Canadian Niagara Hotels will pay between $1.3 million and $1.5 million to the city under a provision of the Planning Act that permits developers to exceed the city’s 30-storey height limit in exchange for cash contributions. That payment will be used to pay for public projects to be determined later.
Council also approved a request from Canadian Niagara Hotels to build an estimated $70-million waterpark on its property.
Ald. Victor Pietrangelo said Canadian Niagara’s investment in the hotel, tower and waterpark should send a “strong message” to the provincial government about the long-term vaule of Casino Niagara as a catalyst for development.
“We’re sending a message that we want to retain Casino Niagara. The developer is stepping up to the plate, saying, ‘I am willing to invest in this area if the province is willing to invest in the area,’” Pietrangelo said.
Michael DiCienzo whose company owns Canadian Niagara Hotels said he wants to see Casino Niagara in the area, but both projects make sense for his company on their own merits.
“We are doing what we feel is necessary from a business standpoint to redevelop our site regardless of the casino,” said DiCienzo said.
ID- 109644 © 2005 , OSPREY MEDIA GROUP Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Niagara Falls Review acticles reprinted with permission by the authority of Joe Wallace, Managing Editor of the Niagara Falls Review.
May 12, 2005
Printed from Niagara Falls Review
By ALISON LANGLEY Review Staff Writer
Thursday, May 12, 2005 – 02:00
Local News -
NIAGARA FALLS – Blondin is back and he’s better than ever.
After a four-year hiatus, the famed tightrope walker has returned to the heart of the tourist district, this time perched on his tightrope across Victoria Avenue in front of the new location of the Louis Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
Construction is still going on at the new museum. However, Blondin was put back in business Tuesday night.
“This is the first time he has seen daylight,” Tim Parker, general manager of Ripley’s in Niagara Falls, said Wednesday morning.
The fibreglass figure had been a familiar fixture on Clifton Hill for more than 40 years.
The metre-and-a-half tall statue was taken down in the fall of 2000 after the museum closed its doors.
With work on the new facility almost completed, Blondin was taken out of storage and given a complete makeover.
“He looked a little old when we took him down. So, we rejuvenated him with a fresh coat of paint and a new cape,” Parker said.
The large swashbuckling cavalier that welcomed visitors to the museum is also returning.
The massive figure is scheduled to be installed at the new site tonight.
The new Tussaud’s museum is set to open in June.
The 125 wax figures, which had been stored at Ripley Entertainment head office in Florida, are back in town awaiting the completion of their new home.
“We won’t be bringing them in until every last speck of drywall dust is gone,” Parker said.
The original Tussaud’s opened on Clifton Hill in 1959.
It was an instant success and was credited with launching a new era in the tourism industry as it spawned a number of themed museums and other family attractions in the area.
ID- 109091 © 2005 , OSPREY MEDIA GROUP Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Niagara Falls Review acticles reprinted with permission by the authority of Joe Wallace, Managing Editor of the Niagara Falls Review.
