Column by Don Glynn —
It all sounds like a re-run of a TV program you’ve seen a dozen times. This time, however, there is every reason to believe that the landmark Hotel Niagara on Rainbow Boulevard will be restored to the splendid atmosphere that guests enjoyed for decades.
What’s different today — in contrast to the pipe dreams of the past — is that owner, Harry Stinson of Hamilton, Ont., — has an impressive track record as a developer.
If you have doubts, on your next trip to downtown Toronto check out his 1 King West, a 50-story hotel and condominium tower that Stinson likes to call “the narrowest building in the world.”
Longtime local residents are sure to remember the failed efforts of potential developers in the past 20 years who walked away from their initial interest and investment in Hotel Niagara.
There were well-intended entrepreneurs like John Prozeralik who soon found himself at a disadvantage, competing with other developers who managed to swing hefty tax breaks that he was denied.
And, of course, there were those developers who wanted the high-profile hotel property only as a short-term investment to spin off for a handsome profit.
Some area residents may even remember when officials of a Dallas-based chain, Park Inn International, even predicted that the newly-acquired 193-room hotel here would eventually become its headquarters site. Not longer after that interview with a reporter, the company pulled out of town.
When it all falls into place — there’s no reason to think otherwise — the renovated hotel will be a vital addition to the South End, directly across from Carl Paladino’s swank Giacomo hotel, and a short block from the American Rapids Bridge to Goat Island and the Niagara Falls State Park.
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A LOOK BACK: Toronto Sun columnist Bill Lankhof notes that Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick explains his team’s poor 2011 performance this way. “The team simply didn’t know how to handle success. I guess we weren’t ready for it,” Fitzpatrick said, “We weren’t ready to be able to accept the fact that we were playing well and playing as the team that was on the top (of the AFC East).”
Now you know why they didn’t make the playoffs.
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THE LIST EXPANDS: After a decade of striving for support of the controversial measure, the Washington State Senate has passed legislation that would legalize gay marriage.
The bill now heads to the House where there is more than enough votes for passage, it is believed.
Unless a threatened referendum challenge by gay-marriage opponents sidetracks the plan, Washington would become the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage.
After New York legalized it in January 2011, Mayor Paul A. Dyster presided at a group wedding held several months later on Luna Island in the Niagara Falls State Park.
Other states where same-sex marriage is legal: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
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‘NO BUSINESS LIKE ...’ The Shaw Festival, an international entertainment Mecca at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., reported revenues of $28.3 million for 2011, up some $700,000 from 2010. In addition, attendance was up 9 percent and ticket sales topped $15 million, a 4 percent increase.
Yet the company celebrating its 50th anniversary last year ended up with a $1.5 million loss. The reason: Increased spending for the milestone.
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TIES THAT BIND: Overheard in Starbuck’s, Third Street: “I asked my mother if I was adopted. Know what she said? ‘Not yet, but we did place an ad.” — a teenager unloading to a friend.
Don Glynn
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Glynn
GLYNN: Hotel Niagara plan exciting for the Falls
- Don Glynn
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GLYNN: Gillibrand seeks help for prime bread-winners
A recent report shows that working mothers across the Empire State earn nearly 15 percent lower pay for the same work as men.
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GLYNN: Falls, Ont., rolls out red carpet for Wallenda
Before Nik Wallenda even started practicing his high-wire routine in downtown Niagara Falls, state Sen.George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, had noted the warm welcome the tightrope walker received across the river.
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GLYNN: Graduates find they’re in staggering debt
Countless senior citizens often gripe about something, sometimes even with good reason. Perhaps they should consider themselves fortunate, compared with the younger generation.
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GLYNN: All eyes on Seneca casino plaza
There’s a new breed of sidewalk superintendents in downtown Niagara Falls.
Unlike the typical work site — watching hardhats skillfully putting steel beams in place — all eyes Saturday were glued to tightrope artist Nick Wallenda strolling on a 2-inch cable linked to two giant construction cranes.
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GLYNN: Where Wallenda starts walk still up in the air
Which way will Nik Wallenda walk?
Will he begin his highly touted tightrope performance June 15 at Terrapin Point on Goat Island and proceed past the Horseshoe Falls to his destination near the Table Rock House? Or will he start from the Canadian side and stroll to the U.S.
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GLYNN: Age not an issue for Slaughter
Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, whose district previously included the Niagara area, may be sidelined with a broken leg but she hasn’t lost her sense of humor.
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GLYNN: Politics front and center in state park
If you watched that press conference from Prospect Park on Wednesday, you may have first wondered what it was all about.
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GLYNN: Cuomo coy on future plans
It was a page out of the past last week when a reporter asked Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo a familiar question.
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GLYNN: Ex-private eye helps in dog tags mystery
Over the years Paul Austin of Ransomville has often walked along the Lake Ontario shoreline north of Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown.
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GLYNN: Press corps dean plans Cuomo book
Whenever there’s talk that someone is writing a book about a high-profile public servant (e.g. a governor), it gives rise to speculation there’s more to the subject than what meets the eye.
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