Wirewalker Nik Wallenda headed back home to Florida Thursday night feeling good about his meeting with Niagara Parks Commission officials.

Of course, Nik Wallenda is pretty much always feeling good. Through this long process of trying to get permission to walk on a tightrope across the Niagara Gorge near the Horseshoe Falls, Wallenda has maintained almost unflappable composure, resolve and optimism – the kind of characteristics one might expect from someone who makes his living on a three-inch steel cable.

“It doesn’t do any good to be negative. I’ve said all along this is my dream and I’m just going to keep on going for it. People can say no, but it just makes me want to work harder.”

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The American Falls will have a morning show feel to them Thursday night.

As part of the Today Show’s 60th anniversary, NBC has arranged to have the show’s familiar red, orange and yellow colours illuminated on both the American and Horseshoe Falls, starting at 5 p.m. Footage will be shown on Friday’s Today Show, wrapping up a week of anniversary celebrations.

“We’re having the Empire State Building lit up here in Manhattan, the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the CIRA Centre in Philadelphia,” says NBC spokeswoman Monica Lee. “We’re glad that everyone’s joining from each area.”

Lee says Niagara Falls was a “natural” choice for producers to tap, and Today Show hosts have been hyping it all week. The colours will be displayed until midnight.

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It has had more than 11 months to pick a winner, but the Niagara Parks Commission says its evaluation team needs more time.

More than a year and a half after a long-term operator for boat tours at the base of the Horseshoe Falls was originally supposed to be found, NPC officials said Thursday the team making the decision needs another “five or six weeks,” before announcing a winning bidder.

The deal will be worth a minimum of $5.5 million per year, not including the commission’s share of annual revenue from ticket and souvenir sales.

Chairwoman Janice Thomson had said she expected to announce who would be awarded a 25-year lease to operate boat tours near the falls by the end of 2011, but she told The Niagara Falls Review the complex process to select a winner is still underway.

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The Niagara Parks Commission is buying more time before it decides who will award a lease to operate the premier attraction at Niagara Falls, the Maid of the Mist boats.

It has taken the commission more than 11 months to mull the matter, but it says it needs another five or six weeks before deciding who will be awarded the 25- year lease to run the boats at the base of the Horseshoe Falls.

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The door to Tourism and Culture Minister Michael Chan’s office is always open and the minister will look at ways of increasing tourism in Niagara Falls, Kim Craitor said Thursday.

Craitor, who represents Niagara Falls at Queen’s Park and who is also the parliamentary assistant to Chan, made the remarks in a telephone interview with former provincial Progressive Conservative party leader John Tory on Newstalk 1010’s The Live Drive program, Craitor.

“The answer is the door is always open,” Craitor told Tory when asked if the minister would consider looking into getting the Niagara Parks Commission to change its decision to not allow a walk across the Niagara Gorge in front of the Horseshoe Falls by Nik Wallenda.

“The minister will listen to ideas from anyone, including Mr. Wallenda, Craitor said.

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Canadian officials in Niagara Falls have denied daredevil Nik Wallenda’s application to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope next summer.

Wednesday night, the Niagara Parks Commission voted to deny a permit for the stunt, planned for June, the Toronto Star reported.

The plan was for Wallenda to cross from Goat Island, which separates the U.S. falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, 1,800 feet across the gorge, on a 2-inch-wide steel cable to the Canadian side.

Parks Commissioner Janice Thomson told the Star there are safety concerns as well as a fear it would spur unauthorized copycat stunts. She said the event also didn’t fit with long-term planning for the park region.

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The Niagara Parks Commission has denied Nik Wallenda’s proposal for a tightrope walk across the Niagara gorge.

In a long-awaited decision comes three weeks after the famed daredevil made a personal pitch to the agency, which is in charge of managing provincial parks around the Horseshoe Falls.

In a news release issued late Wednesday, hours after a decision was expected, the commission said it gave the proposal careful consideration and made the decision based on its “mandate, priorities and long-term goals.”

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Nik Wallenda knew something was up.

First he got an email from a fan congratulating him on the support on a Niagara Falls Review website poll. Then, a few minutes later, he got a call from his dad.

“He said ‘I’ve been keeping an eye on the polls. I just checked it and all of a sudden about 100 people voted against you.’ As we were talking he refreshed the page and another 40 or 50 people voted. I went online and it was at 1,300 within minutes,” Wallenda said from his home in Sarasota, Fla.

Online polls might not be scientific, but they typically show a general feeling of the population. In the case of Wallenda, the poll was asking whether or not people agreed with Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati supporting the tightrope walker’s proposal to walk across the Horseshoe Falls, or with Review city editor Corey Larocque, who was opposed. The two had debated the issue and the public was being asked to weigh in with their opinion.

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One of the cornerstones of the Niagara-in-winter experience – the TD RINK at the Brink – opens to the public for its third season on Thursday, December 1.

The TD RINK – Niagara’s answer to the iconic outdoor ice skating rinks at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto and Rockefeller Centre in New York City – is located just a snowball’s throw from the brink of the world-famous Horseshoe Falls.

The signature Niagara Falls attraction of the CAA Winter Festival of Lights, the TD RINK offers public skating, skate and locker rentals and free helmets for those who need them, as well as a skate sharpening service and group rates for holiday outings, parties, school trips and corporate team-building exercises. RINK adds yet another unique and fun family experience to the CAA Winter Festival of Lights, which is already one of the most iconic festivals in Ontario.

TD, the title sponsor of the TD RINK, has generously agreed to provide six ‘TD Free Skate Days’. ‘TD Free Skate Days’ allow members of the public to experience the TD RINK at the Brink complements of TD. Additionally, the TD Comfort Crew will be in attendance at each ‘TD Free Skate Day’ providing complementary hot chocolate and a souvenir photo.

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When Premier Dalton McGuinty comes to Niagara Falls later this week, Mayor Jim Diodati will have a message for him: “Let Nik walk.”

McGuinty will be in town from Friday to Sunday for the Ontario Liberal Party’s Provincial Council, a post-election get-together at the Scotiabank Convention Centre expected to draw about 450 delegates.

He’ll be here to talk about the Ontario Liberals’ plans for growing the economy and following up on its election promises, but Diodati is hoping McGuinty can make time to listen to his pitch on what the mayor calls a “blockbuster event” for Niagara Falls. American highwire performer Nik Wallenda wants to walk across the Horseshoe Falls on a wire in the spring of 2012.

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