NIAGARA FALLS — Niagara Falls planners on Wednesday showcased plans to capitalize on the Underground Railroad heritage of the city and beyond for representatives of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Roberta Lane, senior program officer, and D. Brent Leggs, field representative for the National Trust, joined local officials as they left Niagara Falls City Hall and toured sites envisioned as key elements of Underground Railroad tourism.

The plans include $350,000 in annual casino funding for the New York State Heritage Area Commission through 2012, which will be used to help take tourists from Niagara Falls to Lewiston, to Lockport to Newfane.

Kevin Cottrell, coordinator of North Star Project, said, "Harriet Tubman did indeed come through Niagara Falls on her way to [St. Catharines, Ont.]. Tubman was an icon, and she certainly crossed [the suspension] bridge," said Cottrell, pointing to documented observations of the cataracts by Tubman.

He said Niagara University did a thorough job of research for the planners and said a history of bridges will be part of the proposed interpretive center.

"Theres a tremendous void in the city of Niagara Falls when it comes to historical issues perceived to be black, but everybody has a connection to this story," Cottrell said.

He said now that there is a dedicated funding source, planners will be "like worker bees," directing tourists who visit the falls into the core of the city, to Lewistons Underground Railroad monument, to the Erie Canal in Lockport and to Burt in Newfane, where there is a documented Underground Railroad site.

Cottrell said there are plans to create a Harriet Tubman pocket park, as the starting point of a walk that will guide tourists onto the Whirlpool Bridge, giving them an idea of what it was like for Tubman to lead slaves across the long-gone suspension bridge and to freedom in Canada.

Lane and Leggs of the National Trust, who came to Niagara Falls from Boston, Mass., visited the Whirlpool Bridge as well as the historic Civil Warera U. S. Customs House to view the site where the Underground Railroad Interpretive Center will be located.

"Theres some great work being done in Niagara Falls," Lane said. "And if others can learn from Niagara Falls success, we can showcase it."

Leggs, who had never seen the falls before, said he is excited about the work being done here. "Niagara Falls can be an example of how to do it," he said.

Tania Werbitzky, regional director of technical grant programs for the Preservation League of New York State, said that in 1999 the Customs House was on the leagues "seven to save" list, but now it is a model of success.

Plans are to open the Customs House by next year, according to senior city planner Thomas DeSantis.

Currently, spiders and cobwebs are plentiful in the historic 1863 building, which has been closed since the 1990s.

But according to plans, half of the first floor will be used for Customs and Homeland Security purposes, and some of the first floor will be used for the Underground Railroad Experience and retail shops.

An expected $43 million in state grants will be used to build a new Amtrak station there, replace rails and renovate the interior. The second floor of the Customs House will be used for Amtrak arrivals and departures.

"The Custom House needed attention even if there never was a train station," DeSantis said.