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The room is too small, the building's construction is slipshod, there's no parking and no offstreet provision for the loading and unloading of trucks. Most of those involved in the hospitality industry here think the plan borders on the insane. But the USA Niagara Development Corp. seems hell-bent on turning the long-abandoned Falls Street Faire into a "temporary" convention center, and there is little likelihood that any amount of common sense injected at a public hearing on the matter will make much of a difference.
For the record, the public hearing is scheduled for tonight, Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m., in the auditorium at the Earl Brydges Public Library on Main Street. It has received virtually no advance publicity, primarily due to the fact that the state doesn't want any troublesome input from the local citizenry.
A $40,000 taxpayer-funded study by the Hunter Interests consulting firm on behalf of USA Niagara determined in July that the Falls Street Faire would be the best location for the new convention center. The study was released more than two months after an April 23 Reporter column, based on inside information that the fix was in, uncannily predicted the outcome of the "study."
Two other possible locations for the facility, the former Nabisco Building at the corner of Buffalo Avenue and John B. Daly Boulevard, and the Rainbow Centre Mall, were given scant attention by Hunter, despite the fact the buildings themselves are larger and in much better condition, and have adjacent parking and existing loading docks where tractor-trailers could conveniently load and unload exhibits for events like the city's annual boat show.
"The study was a sham, a $40,000 waste of the state's money," said one source close to the situation. "Its only purpose was to justify choosing the worst possible alternative."
Those familiar with Falls Street Faire say it will take a year just to bring it up to code, and another year at least before it can be renovated into what, ultimately, will be a third-class convention facility.
Tonight's public hearing is required under law because the state plans to seize the property under the laws on eminent domain. The city's last brush with the state exercising its eminent domain power resulted in the wholesale destruction of Falls Street from Portage Road to the state park, the construction of hideous and little-used buildings such as the Turtle, the convention center and Falls Street Faire itself, and the creation of vast, empty spaces in what should be the heart of the city's tourist district.
The wanton state "urban renewal" initiative, begun in the early 1970s, ultimately destroyed more than 300 businesses and left more than 1,000 families looking for another place to live. What was once the most vibrant neighborhood in Niagara Falls was transformed into a no-man's land, where even many longtime residents are afraid to venture out after dark.
"The state appears to have about as much vision this time around as it did back then," said one longtime observer. "None whatsoever."
If the sham public hearings held on the state-supported giveaway of Niagara Falls International Airport to the Spanish corporation Cintra SA are any indication, the "public" will be heard very little at tonight's event.
The Cintra hearings were loaded up front with state officials, company representatives and other outsiders reading long prepared statements in support of the half-baked plan. Many local residents who wished to express their outrage at the giveaway said they became fed up and left in disgust without being heard.
But despite the state's efforts to strip Niagara Falls of its most valuable piece of real estate, opposition from Rep. John LaFalce, the Federal Aviation Administration and the military -- combined with the terrorist attacks last September -- ultimately torpedoed the plan.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | August 13 2002 |