Wallenda to meet with Niagara Parks Commission officials on Thursday
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Nik Wallenda, the American aerialist who wants to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, will meet with officials from the Niagara Parks Commission this week.
NPC chairwoman Janice Thomson told The Review on Monday that a meeting has been scheduled for Thursday between Wallenda and NPC senior staff.
The meeting will not be open to the public.
“It is an internal staff meeting,” Thomson said. “I will be there and our general manager and her senior managers who will discuss this project with him (Wallenda).”
Thomson expects the meeting will last at least two hours.
The Canadian Press also had a similar article called Daredevil to pitch Niagara Falls tightrope walk again
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Wallenda getting second chance to woo Niagara Parks Commission
From the Niagara Falls Review:
There are people on both sides of the Nik Wallenda fence, but everyone now seems to agree that it’s an international walk or no walk at all.
Wallenda, the American aerialist who has proposed walking across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, is now waiting for a second meeting with the Niagara Parks Commission in hopes of getting the commission to reverse its earlier decision not to allow the walk.
After meeting with Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan Friday, Wallenda said he was encouraged to hear the minister’s interest in the proposal, which would see Wallenda walk across the Horseshoe falls this spring or summer.
Wallenda was denied permission by the NPC last month, and was hoping Chan would overrule that decision. While the minister didn’t reverse the NPC’s call, he did suggest a second meeting between the aerialist and the commission.
Chairwoman Janice Thomson said Monday she would sit down with Wallenda for a longer meeting than the formal 10-minute forum he was given on Nov. 16.
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Wallenda taking his case to tourism minister
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The Niagara Parks Commission slammed the door on Nik Wallenda Wednesday, but a day later Minister of Tourism Michael Chan opened it up just a bit.
Speaking with the Niagara Falls Review Thursday, the Ontario tourism minister invited Wallenda, a seventh-generation aerialist who wants to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, to come and speak with him.
“My door is always open. I welcome the opportunity to meet Mr. Wallenda,” said Chan, who confirmed he had nothing to do with the NPC’s decision to reject Wallenda’s proposal. “This particular project is under the watch of many, many people. It has huge interest around the world.”
Asked if he would stand behind the NPC’s ruling, Chan seemed to leave the door open, saying there are big issues at play.
“One of the major factors is economics. These are uncertain economic times. Jobs are important, the economy is important. That’s why, my door is open to listen to people,” he said.
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Minister’s door open: Craitor
From Niagara This Week:
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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Canada nixes Wallenda’s Niagara rope walk
From UPI:
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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Members of New York delegation respond to Wallenda rejection
From Niagara Frontier Publications:
In the wake of the Niagara Parks Commission’s decision not to recommend support for Nik Wallenda’s proposal for a tightrope walk across the Niagara Gorge, representatives from New York State are encouraging Wallenda to continue his pursuit directly with Canadian officials.
Wallenda has continued to lobby in Canada after being given approval from New York officials to proceed with the tightrope walk from the U.S. to Canada in September when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law the legislation. The State Legislature had previously approved the measure in June 2011.
The Niagara Parks Commission notified Wallenda today that a deviation in their policy prohibiting stunts and the performance of any feat within the park is not warranted at this time.
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Wallenda denied
From Niagara This Week:
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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Wallenda hopes to follow in footsteps of tightrope walkers
From the Niagara Falls Review:
By Wednesday afternoon, Nik Wallenda will find out if he will be come the first person in more than a century to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope.
The Niagara Parks Commission says it will announce its decision on Wallenda’s proposal for a cross-gorge skywalk at some point Wednesday. If they say yes, the 32-year-old American will move forward with his plan for a late-spring walk that he says will draw more than 125,000 spectators.
If it’s a no, Wallenda plans to immediately appeal to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to overrule the decision.
Either way, he plans to hold a press conference in Niagara Falls Thursday or Friday. “Hopefully, we’ll be celebrating the good news,” he said from his home in Sarasota, Fla., Monday.
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BALANCING ACT: Review city editor and Falls mayor debate merits of wire walk across Niagara Gorge
The Niagara Falls Review has a nice back-and-forth between their City Editor Corey Larocque and Mayor Jim Diodati:
Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda wants to walk a wire across the Niagara Gorge next summer, but the Niagara Parks Commission, whose approval he needs, is cold to the idea.
Mayor Jim Diodati is eager to see Wallenda get the green light. Diodati took the matter up with Premier Dalton McGuinty’s senior staff when the Ontario Liberals were in Niagara Falls on Saturday.
But The Review’s city editor Corey Larocque is skeptical about using Niagara Falls for this spectacle.
So, Diodati and Larocque recently hashed it out. This is an edited transcript of their debate.
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Wallenda won’t give up on falls tightrope dream
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Both Nik Wallenda and the Niagara Parks Commission are digging in their heels.
Wallenda wants to be the first person in more than a century to walk across the Niagara gorge on a tightrope. The Commission seems determined not to let it happen.
The performer was in Niagara Falls Wednesday morning to make his pitch to the Commission’s public meeting. He’s already received approval for the tightrope walk from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and he has the support of Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. But without the blessing of the Parks Commission and its chair Janice Thomson, the tightrope walk – as Wallenda wants it – can’t happen.
With permission already granted from New York State, Wallenda said the option is there to walk across the American falls. But it’s the international crossing over the Horseshoe Falls he really wants.
However, the Niagara Parks Commission banned stunting over the falls more than a century ago, and hasn’t budged since.
“We can listen to Mr. Wallenda and listen to his proposal, but (the Niagara Parks Act) is the guiding document for us,” said Thomson.
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