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.
Opinion
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Glynn
GLYNN: Hotel Niagara plan exciting for the Falls
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GLYNN: VFW post keeps spirit alive
At one time, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars-Post 313 would march down Main Street in Youngstown on Memorial Day to the 1812 Cemetery near Old Fort Niagara. That same scenario out of the past occurred for decades in cities, towns and villages across the U.S.
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HAMILTON: Dandelions, parades, broken poles and people
There are still those remnants of the fading bouquets of floral tributes that still hang at that base of a tree on city hall’s lawn. It is near where, last year, from his shiny silvery cart, Melvin Johnson sold hot dogs and sausages to both city employees and passerbys while his tiny white dog excitingly yelped at anyone that came near.
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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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BRADBERRY: There really are spirits in the water
Over the centuries since it was “discovered” hundreds of millions of people have traveled from every corner of the world to visit Niagara Falls making it the most visited of the great waterfalls on the planet.
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CONFER: The reality of rationed health care
The ongoing debate over Obamacare has brought to light the concept of rationed healthcare. Opponents of health care reform keenly point out that while the bill never explicitly calls out rationing, it features certain provisions that will lead the markets to adjust to strict federal demands and, therefore, dispense certain procedures in smaller amounts or not at all. Because of it being the first time that the subject has really come up in public circles, most people, especially on the right, believe that rationing is something new. It’s not. The free markets have been practicing that for quite some time. I should know; with a 4-inch long, 1-inch wide scar running south of my belly button – and a couple of related scars around my groin – I could be the poster child for rationed health care.
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CITY DESK: A regrettable error
We owe Carol Sensabough an apology.
Several weeks ago, the long-time reader and Niagara Falls resident sent a letter to the editor explaining that she took offense to some of the things written by a syndicated columnist, Stephen Dick. -
HIGGS: Niagara Falls' own West Side story
Trusello’s Bakery was on Elmwood behind the family home at 840 19th St. The family, Richard, William (Billy) and Sam along with two sisters, lived in the house.
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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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HAMILTON: Civic ‘ParticipAction’ can work too
Back in the 1970s, our Neighbors to the North ran a national campaign called ParticipAction to encourage Canadians to get off their butts and do things for the sakes of their bodies.
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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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