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Wonder Land

By Darryl McPherson

If the Buffalo Bills were to move to Niagara Falls, the Cataract City may be well prepared to receive them.

Howard Milstein’s Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) has a parcel of land that could easily accommodate a new stadium.

Moreover, NFR Executive Vice President Roger Trevino has made no secret about wanting an arena project for the Falls.

If you can imagine a stadium, supported by a sports museum devoted to the team, with a shopping mall, filled with retail outlets, restaurants and bars, anchored by a four star hotel and a 14 screen movie complex, then you have yourself a major entertainment center.

But one has to wonder. Can such a place even exist?

It does in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It‘s called Patriot Place, adjacent to Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. When you talk about a football team being the center of the community, our brethren up north have taken it to heart.

The synergy of all of those uses on one central campus is the definition of critical mass.

It also has a four story health care center. And a Bass Pro shop with a nature trail.

With a large enough footprint and the proper planning, such a development is not only viable, it is sustainable. Recreational activities are planned throughout the year, with venues for live concerts and other performances; it has the capacity to bring for something for everyone.

The NFR site is capable of absorbing a number of these uses. If it can happen in Foxborough, why not Niagara Falls? One has to wonder…

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com Sep 18 , 2012