Eclipse falls short of million-viewers mark
Mayor blames emergency declaration for scaring away visitors
Mesmerizing. Awesome. Cool. Freaky. Weird.
Name the adjective and they were all pretty much used as thousands of people gathered to watch a total solar eclipse around Table Rock in the heart of Niagara Falls’ tourist district Monday afternoon.
“When it peaked through the clouds and you could see the total eclipse, that was pretty neat,” said Lance Tegen, who visited with his wife and children from Raleigh, N.C., to watch the rare celestial event.
“When everything got pretty dark and you got a sunrise at 3:20 or 3:25, pretty awesome. Never seen anything like this.”
Earlier in the morning, people began sitting in lawn chairs, on blankets and lining the wall along the falls with their telescopes, speculating about whether the clouds would break enough to allow a clear view.
Signs and messages from pedestrians and vehicles could be seen and heard about the correlation between the eclipse and religion.
Souvenir pins and buttons were sold for $5.
Niagara Parkway was the place to be to watch.
“We knew the path of totality was going to come through Niagara Falls, so we thought about it, and then we booked a house last summer in Niagara Falls,” said Scott Rhiand, visiting from outside Detroit, Mi., who with family members were dressed in eclipse shirts.
“This is our second (eclipse). We were in Tennessee for the 2017 eclipse,” he said.
The last time the Niagara region experienced a total solar eclipse was in 1925. There won’t be another until 2144.
Early Monday morning, the skies were cloud covered, as the crowds started to amass.
Several people from a Muslim youth association group carried large signs that said “The Messiah has come.” Its members talked about the religious significance and historical context of an eclipse, going back 1,400 years.
Member Jari Qudrat said it was a “good opportunity” to spread the message of “love for all, hatred for none.”
“This is not a fringe religious minority group by any means. This is one of the world’s fastest growing Muslim sects in the world.”
Peter Townsend is a member of Hamilton-based Because of Christ Ministries who was joined by a small group holding a sign that said “Repent and be ye holy.”
“You’re hearing a lot about the eclipse. Some are saying it’s a prophetic thing. What I know is what the Bible says, that in the last days before Christ comes back, there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars.”
Also visiting Niagara Falls was Tina Donegan and her 22-yearold son from Long Island, N.Y. They got a spot between midway opposite the American and Horseshoe falls at about 7 a.m. They were equipped with a telescope, filters, lenses and eclipse glasses.
“This was supposed to be 100 per cent totality and this seemed like it was supposed to be the happening spot,” said Donegan.
“My son has been wanting to come here for the past year to come to the eclipse — that’s all he’s been talking about. It is a rare event. We did see one in 2017, (but) that was a partial.”
David Adames, chief executive officer for Niagara Parks, said it’s difficult to estimate how many people showed up in the tourist core because, unlike the Nik Wallenda wire walk over the falls when thousands congregated in one area to watch the historic event in 2012, eclipse viewers were spread throughout several kilometres of the park, including south in Fort Erie.
“I have spoken to visitors from across the United States … the U.K. Germany, France, Italy, etc.”
Mayor Jim Diodati said the crowds along Niagara Parkway were “much” larger than for a typical summer day.
“It’s going to be in the hundreds of thousands,” he said at about 1:30 p.m.
“I don’t think we’re going to hit a million,” he said of earlier predictions.
Although in recent days forecasts called for cloudy weather, Diodati said he believes the state of emergency declared by Niagara Region hurt visitation.
“It scared people. People immediately started cancelling rooms and started cancelling reservations,” he said. “This made headlines around the world and it’s really unfortunate, but you can’t get the toothpaste back in the tube. I get the rationale but, unfortunately, we can’t change what happened.”
Diodati said the city was not consulted before the declaration was made.
“As you can see, there are absolutely no problems (on site) and we have a huge police presence,” he said, adding officers from various local, regional, provincial and national police agencies patrolled the area, including officers from cities outside Niagara.
Despite disappointment with the weather, organizers of Brock University’s Eclipse on the Escarpment event in St. Catharines were impressed with participation.
Brock professor Thad Harroun, chair of the university’s physics department, said about 2,000 people emailed the uni- versity to RSVP prior to the event, while many more showed up unannounced to join faculty and students.
“It’s really exciting having people come by and asking questions,” he said. “This is an experience you have to share with people.”
SETI Institute research assistant Amaury Perrocheau travelled from California to join Brock’s eclipse event, part of an outreach program the organization ran throughout the path of totality Monday.
“This morning, I looked at the sky and it was a bit disappointing,” he said. “But when I saw the whole set up here at the university, I saw that it was not just about observing the sun.”
Perrocheau said it was an opportunity for people “to come together, sharing the experience.”