New life for historic hydro plant
Province, Parks team up to redevelop site for tourism attraction
The province will provide a $25-million loan to Niagara Parks Commission to redevelop the historic Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station into a one-of-a-kind attraction.
The money will allow Niagara Parks to transform the 1905 heritage building into what it hopes will be a thriving tourist attraction, offering visitors an educational experience about Ontario’s power-generating history, and a new perspective on the falls through a new viewing platform.
Lisa MacLeod, minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, made the announcement near Table Rock Welcome Centre across from the Horseshoe Falls during a stop in Niagara Falls Friday.
She was joined by Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, Sandie Bellows, chair of Niagara Parks Commission, Joel Noden, chair of Niagara Falls Tourism, and Rebecca Mackenzie, president of Culinary Tourism Alliance, and other dignitaries for a ceremony to officially welcome people back to Niagara as part of the province’s Stage 2 reopening.
“This attraction will be like no other,” said MacLeod. “It will be historic. It will bring more people to this beautiful region.”
The first phase of redevelopment is scheduled to be completed in July 2021. The loan will be for 10 years, with the first payment due in January 2024 after the attraction is fully operational and generating revenue.
MacLeod said the attraction will provide “immersive interactions” and retail operations.
“One of my favourite parts about this new attraction, that I believe will pay for itself in the first three years, is it’s going to really represent and enhance the culinary experience of the Niagara region.”
The power station is on the Niagara Parkway, adjacent to the Horseshoe Falls. It was decommissioned in 2006 and acquired by Niagara Parks in 2009.
The province recently announced $1 million in tourism support for Niagara through a new $13-million funding partnership between Destination Ontario and Destination Canada.
The funding will help deliver locally driven marketing programs to bolster Niagara’s tourism economy.
As part of the partnership, the Culinary Tourism Alliance — a not-for-profit food tourism development organization — will receive $100,000.
MacLeod said Niagara Parks has five restaurants, all dedicated to a Feast On program that markets local culinary and craft breweries, wineries, distilleries and food.
“Through the Niagara Parks Commission we spend about $3.3 million procuring local food and local wine and other local products,” she said.
“What a great way to enhance that by actually working with the Culinary Tourism Alliance of Ontario and investing $100,000 into their program of Feast On, so we can continue that right here in Niagara and across all of Ontario, so that we can play here, we can stay here, and we can eat here all while supporting local.”
Bellows said Niagara Parks is “truly grateful” to the province for its support of the powerplant project, and it “can’t wait” to welcome visitors to the attraction next summer.
“This will be a must-see attraction for Niagara,” she said.
Diodati said he’s excited about the new attraction.
“We’re going to convert one of our power plants … and Niagara Falls is the birthplace of hydroelectric energy,” he said. “What a great place to do it to help us with our recovery.”
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates said he was pleased to hear of the province’s support for the project, and was glad to hear the rate on the loan is “somewhere between 1 and 2 per cent.”
He said he would like to see the province also offer such a rate to the broader Niagara tourism sector to help them recover from COVID-19 challenges.
“That’s exactly what a lot of the tourist sector is saying — ‘the rates that they’re asking us to pay at 4.5 to 6 per cent at the banks,’ they can’t afford it, they might not even survive,” he said.
“They’re not asking for money. What they’re saying is, ‘give us the opportunity to get money, get us to the other side, but get our rate down so that we can afford to survive.’”