'Gateway to Falls' is capturing lots of attention

By Don Glynn glynnd@gnnewspaper.com
Niagara Gazette

July 15, 2007

Frank Parlato may have discovered the perfect way to lure even more tourists to his downtown site, the former Occidental Center.

And the strategy is not simply youths flagging confused drivers into the large parking lot, once a sprawling 45-foot hole that was dug for a state-of-the-art aquarium.

(That AquaFalls plan vanished like the mist from the falls but the sharks obviously survived.)

So much attention has been focused on the Niagara Center parking area that some other exterior changes under Parlato’s ownership generally have escaped notice.

It’s virtually impossible for motorists trying to find the Niagara Falls State Park to miss the looming green-glassed structure at Niagara Street and Rainbow Boulevard. Countless drivers exiting from the Rainbow Bridge or turning from Niagara Street are greeted by an army of young flag wavers.

Parlato is no dummy when it comes to marketing. The building facade has been spruced up with beautiful flags of several countries, what visitors might find at a state capitol or in the United Nations plaza. Maybe even at the city’s official information center.

If he ever blacktops the gravelly lot and removes a few of the tacky signs on the lawn, it will look even more official.

What’s really apparently enticing many tourists is that neat sign over the main entrance, “Gateway to the Falls.”

Can you fault the unsuspecting visitors for thinking that they can walk through those doors into the nation’s oldest state park?

What they’ll soon discover, of course, is “Elegant Souvenirs” for $10, a lot of merchandise that looks like it was imported from Clifton Hill, and people three deep at a counter where an All-American sightseeing tour sells for only $69.95.

By the way, some of the tours offered are strikingly similar to the Niagara Falls Passports sold at the nearby state park information center.

Some shrewd operator realizes that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.