Niagara Falls Developments

[Quall]

Hilton expansion (mid March)
image hosted on flickr

by djp3000 at flickr

Hmm.

[urban 2.0]

LOL ... that is so out of scale for the city!

Soon NF will be pissing off Buffalo (jealousy)

[urban 2.0]

I wonder how many American's who first see NF from the states, think that NFcdn is a city of several hundred thousand?

[drafty]

'From the Niagara Falls Review

A huge deal' for the Falls'
Posted By JOHN LAW



The $100-million convention centre dream is finally underway.

Though work has already begun on the site of the new Niagara Convention and Civic Centre, plenty of dignitaries made it official Friday with a groundbreaking ceremony.

To kickstart what Mayor Ted Salci calls the "unconventional convention centre," the first official clients were flown in by helicopter to sign their contracts.

Both the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Tire Dealers Association will hold major events here shortly after the centre opens for business, expected to be in the spring of 2011.

"It's a huge deal," said Mike Kavanagh, owner of the Montrose Road Canadian Tire store. "When we go into a city - and our next (convention) is in Winnipeg - we bring a lot of dollars. A lot of hotel rooms, a lot of restaurants, a lot of sightseeing."

The convention, booked for September 2012, will bring close to 500 Canadian Tire dealers to town. Kavanagh said "our goal is to knock this out of the park."

It was music to Kerry Painter's ears.

The president and general manager of the Niagara Convention and Civic Centre says about 250 dates are on tentative hold, with everyone from arborists to librarians to jazz musicians making enquiries.

All for a site that's still just a muddy field.

"It's amazing," she says.

"The first thing you sell for a convention centre is conventions ... and a convention has a very long lead time. We're talking to people now for 2020 and 2021. So it takes a very long time for them to (be) ready to sign."

The facility, at the corner of Stanley Avenue and Dunn Street, is an equal partnership between the federal and provincial governments (each putting in $35 million), and a Niagara consortium that includes the city, region, Fallsview BIA, Victoria Avenue BIA, Falls Management Co. and Niagara Parks Commission.

"It's validation that what we've been saying is true," said Painter. "Everybody together wants this. You can't sell a building without a destination, and you can't sell a destination without everybody."

Construction will continue at the site for the next two years. The first concrete will likely be poured next week.

"It's one of the biggest projects we've done," said John Aquino, vice president of Bondfield Construction, the company chosen in December to build the facility.

"You hope to have everything covered. With a big project like this, there's a lot of unique aspects to the building."

Once completed, the centre will offer an 82,000-square-foot exhibition hall, a 17,000-square-foot ballroom, a 1,000-seat theatre, and more than 26,000 square feet of flexible meeting space.

It will create 75 full-time and 100 part-time jobs.

"During construction alone, millions of dollars will be spent on supplies and construction," said Salci.

"This will raise the quality of life of everyone living in the Niagara region."

Federal Justice Minister and Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson called the convention centre a long-overdue piece of the tourism puzzle.

"I've always believed it was something we should have," he said.

"This is money well spent, and you can't get a better place to spend it."

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor recalls "dreaming" about a convention centre during his years on city council.

"Our city has known we've needed a convention centre for many, many years," he said. "This is the beginning of the final stage in our city's transition to a year-round destination centre."

Niagara Regional chairman Peter Partington called it a win for the entire area, not just Niagara Falls.

"When we work together, good things will happen in Niagara."

Early teamwork was key, added hotel owner Amy Bignucolo, who was chairwoman of a Fallsview-area group that got the ball rolling.

Once the Niagara Fallsview Casino and new hotels were established, she said, it was time to make the convention centre a reality.

"The product had to be in place first."

Niagara Falls businessman Dragan Matovic, a key figure in pulling the convention centre team together, called it "very gratifying" to see work finally begin.

While it likely won't make a dent in Toronto-area conventions, the Niagara Falls site will compete with the likes of Vancouver, Calgary and Quebec City.

"We're probably as prepared as any other major destination," he said. "We host millions of people already, so this is a natural progression for us to invite thousands of convention-goers."

Painter has two words for the competition: "I'm ready."

[zebrahead]

any renders?

[urban 2.0]

Originally Posted by zebrahead

any renders?

.. sat location maps?

[drafty]

Sorry these are so small. Better images on their site:
www.fallsconventions.com

[urban 2.0]

.. looks good, nice scale .. won't be a blight in 20 years.

[urban 2.0]

... lol ... I love how the map is in Miles and not Metric by default.

[zebrahead]

love it...! great news for NF.

[xzmattzx]

That convention center will be a nice addition. That intersection looks severly underutilized. Is there actually farmland down Stanley Avenue? Even if it's just empty fields that's some nice land to develop.

[drafty]

There isn't any 'farmland' on Stanley. There are a couple of small undeveloped lots between the Sheraton and McLeod Rd., and south of McLeod, Stanley is stricly industrial, plus the backside of Marineland. The most valuable properties in that area are:
- the former Loretto Academy, right beside and now owned by the Sheraton, which has great views of the Falls and is used right now by the hotel as a sort of banquet and meeting place. I can easily see this being developed in the future.
- Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre, beside Loretto, is a long standing institution in the city and is not likely to be going anywhere soon.

[xzmattzx]

I wasn't sure if it was farmland or whatnot, I just remember seeing open fields from about a block away and wondering why no hotel companies or business ventures had jumped on the land. If it's in use specifically to be open land then that answers that question.

Is that Mount Carmel Spiritual Center a Catholic place? If so, I might have to check that out some time.

[drafty]

Yes Matt, Mount Carmel is operated by the Carmelites, a Roman Catholic religious order. www.carmelniagara.com

And further to the Loretto Academy property, Sheraton on the Falls owners have applied for rezoning to allow a condo/hotel development on the land, incorporating the historic Loretto buildings, and to include 3 buildings of 32 to 57 stories. More ifo to come.

[xzmattzx]

Is the Loretto Academy is that first building south of Livingston Street? And is the Mount Carmel Spiritual Center the building south of that with the red roof?

[drafty]

You got it!!

And I should have said Sheraton Fallsview owns the property, not Sheraton on the Falls.

[Sir Miles Platting]

Is it true that there's a Denny's restaurant round there where the opening scenes of the movie Pulp Fiction were shot?

The scenes where Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer held the place up.

Good news for NF btw...

[Dimension]

Originally Posted by urban 2.0

LOL ... that is so out of scale for the city!

Soon NF will be pissing off Buffalo (jealousy)

You can have you hotel towers. Niagara Falls, ON will never have the architectural history that Buffalo has.

[Dimension]

Originally Posted by urban 2.0

I wonder how many American's who first see NF from the states, think that NFcdn is a city of several hundred thousand?

Not many from what I know actually... Most Americans think of Niagara Falls, ON when they think of Niagara Falls. They are more likely to be surprised by the neglected Niagara Falls, NY side and the waits at the border.

Keep building up your side, and condos will start to rise on the US side to take advantage of the falls, and the Niagara Falls, ON skyline.

[FALLSVIEW]

WHATEVER!!