Niagara Falls: Dateline News & Events

Niagara Falls Is A Winter Wonderland
March 12, 2010
Niagara Parks Commission Opens Meetings
New Chair of NPC Nominated
City Tourism Costs February 2010 The City of Niagara Falls budgets a large amount of money each year to support tourism. Niagara Falls Tourism - $360,000 Niagara Falls Festival of Lights - $342,000 This amount of money is in addition to any government, corporate and business grants Niagara Falls Illumination Board - $36,050 Falls Illumination January 2010 The nightly Illumination of the Falls schedule is as follows: January 1st to January 8th - 5 pm to 12am January 9th to February 28th - 6:30 pm to 10 pm March 1st to March 10th - 7 pm to 10 pm March 11th to March 31st - 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. April 1st to April 30th - 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. May 1st to August 16th - 9 pm to 12 am August 17th to September 30th - 8:30 pm to 12 am October 1st to October 31st - 7 pm to 12 am November 1st to November 2nd - 6:30 pm to 12 am November 3rd to December 30th - 5 pm to 12 am December 31st - 5 pm to 1 am Parks Commission Opens Meeting to Public January 2010 The Niagara Parks Commission recently held its first meeting open to members of the public under the direction of interim chairman - Archie Katzman. The public interest in attending this first meeting was substantial. The Niagara Parks Commission until now have held their meeting in private. It is expected public meetings will become the norm and the Commission have indicated that at some point in the future, minutes and agendas will be posted on the internet in a similar fashion that the City of Niagara currently does. Niagara Convention Centre January 2010 The Niagara Convention and Civic Centre is to be built on the west side Stanley Avenue opposite Livingston Street in the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario. The $87 million dollar project is 231,000 square feet in size that includes a 100,000 square feet main exhibit hall, 31,000 square feet of meeting space and 100,000 square feet of support space. The project is jointly financed by the Federal Government ($35 million dollars), the Provincial Government ($35 million dollars), the Falls Management Company ($15 million dollars) and the Fallsview BIA ($2 million dollars). Construction is well underway with most of the the structural steel framework already in place Battle of the Maids January 2010 The Minister of Tourism for the Ontario Government Tourism has directed the Niagara Parks Commission to formally tender the Maid of the Mist boat tours in the lower Niagara River at the base of the Falls to all bidders despite the Parks Commission board previously voting overwhelmingly in favour of renewing the contact for the Maid of the Mist to the current owner/operator James Glynn. For 39 years, Glynn held an exclusive lease on public land, never having to face competition for the right to operate boat tours at the base of the Falls. This direction from the Ministry of Tourism resulted in the resignation of Niagara Parks Commission chairman - Jim Williams. US Border Security Increased April 2009 The US Border Patrol is increasing surveillance along the Buffalo - Niagara International border between the USA and Canada with the installation of 5 additional surveillance towers along the border. Cameras mounted on these towers can monitor movement of any person, vehicle or boat along the border. Tourism Down 10%-15% July 2009 Tourist operators are complaining that tourism is down this year 10% to 15% since the International Border Passport requirement became mandatory on June 1st 2009. Passports Required June 1st 2009 April 2009 On June 1st 2009, it will be mandatory when crossing the USA-CANADA border to produce enhanced identification such as a passport, nexus card or enhanced drivers license. This is a requirement of both Canadian and American citizens.		New Niagara Parks Chairwoman March 2010 Fay Booker, a Burlington-based consultant and former partner with Deloitte & Touche and Grant Thornton LLP, has been named by the province as its nominee to chair the parks commission. If confirmed by the Standing Committee on Government Agencies and Premier Dalton McGuinty's cabinet, Ms. Booker will replace Jim Williams, a former federal bureaucrat who resigned after a falling-out with Queen's Park last year. Ms. Booker, who has also held senior positions with CIBC and National Trust, has consulted extensively on governance in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, and as an auditor, helped the City of Hamilton set its finances straight in 2003.

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