The Niagara daredevil I knew didn’t quit – and it killed him
From Buffalo Business First:
On July 3, 1984, a Czech emigre by the name of Karel Soucek rode in a nine-foot barrel over the cataracts at Niagara Falls, and lived.
A few months later, on Jan. 19, 1985, a stunt he was performing in the Houston Astrodome malfunctioned and within a day he was dead, the victim of massive injuries.
I got to thinking about Soucek after reading that Nik Wallenda is still trying to get official permission to walk on a high wire above Niagara Falls. These fellows always come to Niagara Falls, don’t they?
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Investigating who owned the falls
From the Buffalo News:
Once, when Jane A. Porter was visiting Europe in the late 19th century, someone asked her if she had ever seen Niagara Falls.
“Seen them?” she allegedly replied. “Why, I own them.”
She wasn’t kidding.
As an heir to the property bought by her grandfather, Augustus Porter, Jane Porter did indeed own the mighty cataracts—at least until 1885, when the family’s waterfront property was bought by New York State to form the nation’s first state park.
The Porter family’s other land holdings, worth millions of dollars even in 19th century money, were the focus of a series of lengthy court fights in the 1880s and ’90s.
At the end of it all, Jane Porter was declared mentally ill — a “lunatic,” in the terminology of the time — even though it’s far from clear that she was really insane by today’s standards, or indeed by any standards.
She seems to have been done out of her property by a greedy sister and a lawyer who supposedly was on her side but had a blatant conflict of interest.
The story was a sensation at the time, gaining coverage even in the New York Times.
But for a century, it was forgotten until it was unearthed in the basement of the Niagara County Courthouse.
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N.F., Ont., inn gets new life as Wyndham
From Buffalo Business First:
The former Stanley Inn, once a landmark hotel on Stanley Avenue in Niagara Falls, Ont., will be reborn as the city’s first Wyndham Hotel .
Local developers are investing $7.5 million to renovate it into a nine-story, 152-suite hotel that will open next year. Located in the city’s Fallsview business district, it is near the recently opened Scotiabank Convention Centre and also close to Fallsview Casino Resort. The Stanley Inn has been vacant for more than five years.
As you know, I have reported on the construction on this site for months. However, I had no idea it was going to be a Wyndham property. Why don’t these companies put signs up to get the name out there. I would have included it in every posting if I had known. Seems like a missed opportunity…
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Some postings on Marineland losing Ikaika
The rest of the posts today, and a couple tomorrow will be on the news that Marineland shipped Ikaika back to SeaWorld San Diego. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If Marineland loses all of their Killer Whales (if Kiska dies), it will be a huge loss!
Whale leaves Marineland for San Diego
From Buffalo Business First:
It took a crane and a fleet of transport trucks to do it, but Ikaika the orca whale has returned home from Marineland to San Diego.
SeaWorld San Diego had loaned Ikaika to Marineland of Niagara Falls, Ont., in 2006 in exchange for four beluga whales. But SeaWorld’s parent company launched legal action last year to secure Ikaika’s return, according to the Niagara Falls Review.
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N.F.’s Sheraton welcomes TGIF
From Buffalo Business First:
What has long been rumored, concerning the primary restaurant and sports bar inside the newly-christened Sheraton Hotel in Niagara Falls, is now official.
Michael DiCienzo, Canadian Niagara Hotels vice president, said the Old Falls Street Sports Bar is being renovated and changed over to a TGIFriday’s restaurant and sports bar. TGIF’s will make its Cataract City debut in late June, DiCienzo said.
“We considered a number of brands, but we think this works the best,” DiCienzo said. “This fits best in terms of families staying at the hotel and those looking for a nice, casual place to eat.”
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Explaining the U.S.-Canada hotel biz gap
From Buffalo Business First:
The distance between Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ont., can be measured in the 1,450-foot span of the Rainbow Bridge.
The distance between Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara-on-the-Lake is about 10 miles. In the hotel industry, however, the differences are a world apart.
Unfortunately you need a subscription/membership in order to read the entire article. I don’t have one. It’s too bad, as the articles seems like it would be quite good.
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Hotels see rise in room occupancies
From Buffalo Business First:
Hotel room occupancy rates continued to rise through the first quarter of the year, mirroring other local statistics and economic factors that show the hospitality industry is climbing out of its slump.
According to statistics compiled by Smith Travel Research of Nashville, the occupancy rate in… Niagara Falls, hotel occupancy increased 1.6 percent in March and 1.2 percent for the first quarter. Occupancy in the Cataract City was 41.7 percent this past March, up from 41 percent a year ago and for the January-to-March period, it was 36.9 percent, compared to 36.4 percent.
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Maid of the Mist’s future uncertain
From Buffalo Business First:
The 2011 season for the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Corp. began Wednesday morning.
But the bigger question is whether this will be the last year that the Niagara Falls, N.Y.-based company will be permitted to run its boats from the U.S. and Canadian shores of the lower Niagara River.
At issue is a 2008 renewal that the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Corp. signed with the Niagara Parks Commission to continue to pick up and drop off passengers on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. Potential competitors cried foul over what they perceived as a no-bid process that saw the pact renewed.
The issue morphed into a political hot button in Niagara Falls, Ont., with the parks commission ultimately deciding to withdraw the deal and put the tour-boat operations out to bid. The bids were issued last fall, and 18 firms including Maid of the Mist Steamboat Corp. are believed to have responded. The parks commission has declined to formally identify any of the bidders.
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Opening set N.F., Ont. convention center
From Buffalo Business First:
Just a few days before the grand opening of the Scotiabank Convention Centre, Kerry Painter is able to finally get rid of her hard hat and steel-toed shoes as she walks around the building.
The 288,000-square-foot Niagara Falls, Ont. convention center is that close to opening.
Crews inside and outside the Stanley Avenue facility are spending the final days before the center’s official debut Friday afternoon focusing less on bricks-and-mortar issues and more on putting the final touches on the $100 million building that many believe will be a critical piece of Niagara Falls’ tourism and hospitality business.
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DiCienzos buy two hotels
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Niagara’s DiCienzo family has picked up two of the best views of the Horseshoe Falls after buying the Marriott Fallsview and Sheraton Fallsview hotels last week.
“We’ve been looking for acquisitions for a little while. This move seemed to make sense,” said Dino A. DiCienzo, one of four children of patriarch Dino DiCienzo Sr., now involved in the family business.
He wouldn’t disclose how much his family paid to buy them from the family of Cosmo Menechella, another Falls family in the hotel business.
But tax rolls at city hall list the 32-storey Sheraton Fallsview’s assessment at $51.9 million and the 30-storey Marriott Fallsview’s at $66.3 million. Property assessments are supposed to reflect what a property could be sold for on the open market, though sale prices can deviate from assessed values.
The transaction means the DiCienzos have added the two Fallsview area hotels to their holdings on Falls Avenue — the Crowne Plaza and Sheraton on the Falls, as well as the Skyline Inn and Hampton Inn on Victoria Avenue.
Buffalo Business First also has an article called “Ownership change for 2 N.F., Ont. hotels” with information…
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