A just-completed feasibility study about the impact of Niagara Falls’ proposed Centennial Park has come back with economic impact numbers that easily exceeded what city leaders first envisioned.
The ice rink anchored project just across from the Seneca Niagara Casino is projected to bring in $50 million annually and at least 50,000 new hotel bookings per year. Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino said he is ecstatic with the early projections.
“I always talk about the fact that this will allow us to extend the season year-round,” Restaino said.
A 6,000-seat hockey arena will anchor Centennial Park and will primarily attempt to attract the nearly 15 million people who live within two hours of the proposed site to regional sports tournaments.
However, the city must first take control of the 12-acre site, which is at the center of a prolonged legal dispute between the city of Niagara Falls and the privately controlled Niagara Falls Redevelopment LLC. Restaino said he is determined to gain control of the land through eminent domain and move Centennial Park forward, claiming it would bolster the city’s primary industry -- tourism and hospitality.
“It's going to check all the boxes that you're looking to check,” Restaino said. “Employment, home ownership, all those things that you look for while also generating revenue in an industry that's going to surround us, one that we have to make sure that we support, while looking to make sure that we're also being more than just a one-industry location.”
Critics of the plan claim that the city did not gather enough community support for the project, and that it’s unclear how the estimated $200 million in funding will be secured. Despite this, Restaino claims the feasibility study gives Niagara Falls more support material as it tries to advance Centennial Park.
