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You may want to sit down before reading these next words because they are definitely ones that you do not want to hear. At the very least, grab onto the end of a table and hold on tightly, so that you don't take a tumble when your knees buckle and gash your head open on the way down to the ground.
Are you ready? Here goes -- a Niagara Falls, N.Y. casino will do little or nothing to change the woefully poor complexion of downtown. There, it's out there in black and white for all to see, and now we can get down to the unsavory business of dealing with it.
What do the Rainbow Centre, Turtle, Wintergarden, Splash Park, Falls Street Faire, Falls Street Station and convention center have in common?
Answer: They are all closed -- or near death -- and they were all built as stand-alone projects. The curious thing about that answer is that the first part of it is a direct result of the action of the second part.
The proposed casino is no different from any of the entities I've just listed. It is a stand-alone project. Stand-alone, as in not part of a larger configuration; and stand-alone, as in that's exactly what it will do -- stand alone in a downtown of ruins.
What Niagara Falls needs is a master plan. To their credit, Niagara Falls Redevelopment presented one to the city back in the days when Eddy Cogan was still running the daily show. The problem with NFR's plan was that it relied on a casino -- to be developed by someone else -- as the catalyst to make the rest of the plan become reality. Even if the casino really happens, what we'll have is a multi-headed beast in control of the city's future.
Vying for different degrees of control will be: New York State, the Seneca Indian Nation, NFR, David Cordish, and let's not forget the little rug rats at the table -- the city government. Talk about your chaos theories.
There was a rally held last summer in Lackey Plaza in support of casino gaming in Niagara Falls. The entire thing was so hokey it reminded me of the Andy Griffith episode in which the entire town of Mayberry puts on a schmaltzy display for a Hollywood producer who's thinking of filming his next big-screen feature in the sleepy North Carolina village. The point is that it had "small-time" written all over it. At the rally, the MC kept serenading the crowd with this cheer: "What do we want? Casino! When do we want it? Now!" If he had substituted the word "master plan" for "casino," he'd have been much closer to the proper path.
What Niagara Falls needs is a major player to drop anchor here for a spell. By major I mean really big -- as in Disney or Paramount.
What's really wild is that I don't think that enticing them to come is as difficult a proposition as it may sound. In fact, I can give you 15 million reasons why they would have to at least give it serious consideration. Tourists -- that's how many of them visit Niagara Falls each and every year. They come from all points on the globe to watch water tumble over a cliff. Can you imagine how many would come if there was actually something more to do here besides look at the falls?
Fifteen million is a pretty good hole card. In fact, if I were a major player like Disney, I would be in disbelief that a world-renowned city like Niagara Falls was available for the taking.
What Disney or the like would have to do is to acquire all of downtown. With NFR holding the chips on almost all of the major business interests, and with the surrounding neighborhoods rarely sporting a property that sells for more than $40,000, it would be feasible. They then could implement a cohesive entertainment complex that has something for everyone. In simple terms -- a master plan.
There could be a gambling and nightclub district for adults. A major theme park and children's entertainment section. A real, live mega-mall. Live theater and music, like the type offered in Branson, Mo. How about a domed beach-and-water complex, much like the ones popular in Japan? How many locals would love to lie on hot sand in 80-degree temperatures during the winter storms of January?
Many of the neighborhood streets close to the falls would have to be bulldozed. That's one of the key reasons why a mega-corporation has to be involved. It would have the capital necessary to rebuild new housing a little farther out and offer it to the displaced people at the same rates that they're now paying for old buildings. Tourists equate a suburban surrounding with safety and an urban one with danger. Conversely, white picket fences and manicured lawns with flowering gardens tend to draw John and Susie Q. Public like too much cologne draws the buzzing summer bees.
Is it any wonder that tourists constantly ask front desk clerks at downtown hotels if it's safe to leave their cars in the lot overnight and if it's cleaner (read: safer) in Canada? A master plan would provide for that same type of suburban setting downtown on our side of the border, thus keeping tourists -- and their wallets -- from crossing the Rainbow Bridge in droves.
Is it really possible to get someone like Disney interested in Niagara Falls? I don't know. Maybe the better question is: Has anyone in the history of local government ever had the cajones to pick up the telephone and give Michael Eisner a call? The answer to that one, I can assure you, is no.
Meanwhile, we are all begging to roll the dice on a casino being the panacea for Niagara Falls' ills. Without it being tied to a master plan, don't be surprised if it comes up snake eyes.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | April 30 2002 |