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Parlato changes the face in the cityAquafalls pit to be drained
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BY DENISE JEWELL Monday, April 25, 2005 A gold-painted shovel leans against a window on the seventh floor of 360 Rainbow Blvd. in the office of Frank Parlato Jr.
The tool — used in an Aug. 18, 1999, ground breaking ceremony that marked the beginning of AquaFalls — was once a symbol of the highly anticipated economic development project to bring a “world-class” underground aquarium to Niagara Falls.
Today, it’s a reminder of all that has gone wrong with the nine-story, glass cube in little more than five years.
Parlato, who foreclosed on the site in December and promptly renamed it Niagara One, considers the shovel a relic.
“We’ll put that in a museum,” the developer said as he sifted through new logos for the former Occidental Chemical building.
After years of controversy surrounding the AquaFalls project, which left little more than a gaping pit as deep as 40 feet within walking distance of the falls, Parlato said he plans to begin heavily pumping water from the hole this week in preparation to fill it to use as a parking lot.
But he can’t guarantee the work will be done before the tourist season.
“From here on in, we’re chipping away with it,” Parlato said. “You’ve got to do it right. Rushing is a bad idea.”
Parlato said he will use dirt left over from a Town of Niagara sewer project to fill the pit.
In a deal facilitated by Falls Mayor Vince Anello and approved by town officials in February, Parlato will pay the town about 1 cent per cubic yard to take the dirt.
The town had been facing an estimated $207,000 bill to have the dirt hauled away, officials said earlier this winter.
As late as last week, Parlato said he still was considering a plan to use the hole to build an underground parking lot. But of the expense and timeline of such a project — which he estimated to be as high as $7 million — did not fit with his plans to fill the building with office and tourism space.
Parlato estimates that filling the hole will cost about a $1 million.
But another relic of the former AquaFalls project could haunt the progress. A dispute over a small strip of land to the north of Parlato’s property could slow plans to fill the hole.
While Parlato foreclosed on 360 Rainbow Blvd. in December, records show that the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission gave a .22-acre piece of adjacent land in 2000 to a corporation, 360-7 Rainbow Inc., controlled by a developer associated with the former AquaFalls project.
Parlato wants to move forward with his plans as soon as possible.
“We’ve shut off this space for almost six years, and there is a value to having it opened up this year,” Parlato said.
For now, workers drilled port holes along the tall fence that has surrounded the pit for years to allow visitors a peak at the future progress.
“There is nothing unfriendlier than a fence when you’re trying to imagine what’s on the inside,” Parlato said.
Contact Denise Jewell at (716) 282-2311, ext. 2252.
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Published: April 25, 2005 in Niagara Gazette |
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Contact Frank Parlato Jr.