Finally! After more than 40 years of commiserating, consternation, confusion and catastrophic collapse, the image of our future is clear. Like an old Polaroid photograph that used to take a few minutes to develop right before your eyes, Niagara Falls, N.Y.'s future is slowly but surely emerging as part of a bigger, brighter, more promising picture.
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While the early days of steady growth that began on the Niagara Frontier in the 1800s had obviously come to an end by the 1960s, it has taken us all that time, and it will take more, to inventory our resources and clearly focus on the development of our future by rediscovering our past.
Our city's development and ultimate decline did not happen in a vacuum. Likewise, the full potential of our future cannot be achieved without the cooperation, support and participation of our neighbors.
In other words, we have to think of ourselves as a world-class destination, part of a much larger package that extends beyond our city limits to include the entire region from Chautauqua to Lewiston and everything in between. We have to understand and accept the fact that what may be good for Upstate New York may be good for Niagara Falls and vice versa.
While our great-grandparents were creating the "King of Power, Queen of Beauty," digging the tunnels, constructing the power stations, electrochemical plants and the Honeymoon Capital of the World, our neighbors on both sides of the border and all over the region were busy developing their communities, too.
For example, the growth and development of the wine industry in our neighboring communities continued to move ahead while other parts of the regional economy were in decline. It has begun to offset some of the damage done by the disappearance of the electrochemical and heavy manufacturing industries in the cities. Likewise, the heritage tourism industry has begun to expand and grow in every direction as we begin to discover our richly diverse cultural history.
There are clear examples of its emergence as far away as the Chautauqua Institute and as close as Main Street in downtown Niagara Falls.
Only a short drive from the foot of Main Street, just 90 minutes away on the New York State Thruway, is the Chautauqua Institute, one of the world's oldest and most respected communities, where some of the world's leading thinkers, philosophers, writers, artists and just plain folks like me can go and contemplate life in a serene, quiet, spiritually inspiring environment.
There, people like Helen and Dick Edgington see the future.
In 1997 they migrated from Indiana to purchase, renovate and operate The Spencer, a perfectly charming 26-room Victorian hotel right in the heart of the institute's historic campus.
Helen, a vibrant and brilliant woman, describes herself as a creative artist who transforms beautiful spaces into more beautiful livable treasures, and is the force behind The Spencer.
In 1843, her family and four others founded the Quaker school, Earlham College, where she says she was taught the value of a real education. She went on to study art and to design buildings that "make space as comfortable as possible by creating pleasant surprises in the details; things people don't expect!"
The Spencer, she says, is her legacy. Each room is designed around a literary fantasy -- a trip to Africa with Isak Dinesen, a balloon ride with Jules Verne, the C.S. Lewis room featuring "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
She says the hotel is ready for the world to see, and that the entire area should be marketed to Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as Europe.
"The world is so small now because of better communications. Everybody should be able to see the treasures we have to offer and come here to enjoy them," she says.
The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society is doing its part by collecting, storing and cataloging very rare and often one-of-a-kind items that help define the story of the city in what Bill Evitts calls "Buffalo's attic," a state-of-the-art storage facility on Forrest Avenue. The building is a warehouse of items ranging from cast-iron stoves made by the Jewett family in the 1800s to a portrait of Rev. Nash, one of the founders of the Niagara Movement and the original pastor of the famous Michigan Avenue Baptist Church. Evitts says, "These are the things that define us for future generations." He says their goal is to put the entire collection on public display.
In Niagara County's historic Lewiston, Eva Nicklas and Tim Henderson are offering walking tours of the "Marble Orchard." That is the title of the play Henderson wrote about the characters buried in the town's cemetery, including the Tryons, well-known abolitionists who singlehandedly helped many escaped slaves cross the Niagara River into Canada.
"We are very proud of our history and we strongly believe it should be known by the whole world as a testament to the moral values of the people who developed this area," says Henderson.
Just a few miles from Lewiston, near Newfane, Carol Murphy runs Murphy's Orchard, a documented Underground Railroad Station where the McClews, who owned the property in the 1850s, hid escaped slaves. When Carol purchased the property, she decided to preserve the site and eventually succeeded in having it designated an official historical preservation site, recognized by the federal and state governments.
Only a block off Main Street in what used to be the central business district that served the old Suspension Bridge community down the river in Niagara Falls, Mary Ann and Bill Rolland see the vision. They just put their finishing touches on the restoration of a beautiful example of the fine craftsmanship and tender loving care that went into the buildings of historic Old Niagara.
Clearly, we have a lot to be proud of in this part of the world. We are beginning to move forward together toward the implementation of a plan to put it all together. Only time will tell whether we will overcome our resistance to our own survival.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Sept. 28 2004 |