Casino revenue likely to fund Falls’ New Year’s bash
City Council to vote on $50,000 request
NIAGARA FALLS — The city’s casino revenue will likely fund an outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration downtown for the first time in years.
The Council will vote today on a request to spend $50,000 on an outdoor celebration at the Hard Rock Cafe that would feature live music and, possibly, a countdown with a giant guitar drop.
The proposal, if approved, would be the third Hard Rock Cafe concert funded with casino revenue this year as city officials increasingly embrace the notion that the city’s slots revenue can be used for events as economic development.
“We feel that, for us, this is a tourist city and this is a perfectly defensible form of expenditure on economic development,” Mayor Paul A. Dyster said. “It adds to our quality of life, but an event like this, that’s not our principal reason that we do it. We’re doing it because we want to promote our downtown as a visitor attraction.”
Details of the New Year’s Eve celebration are still being negotiated, but Dyster said the Hard Rock Cafe has proposed an outdoor event with live music, tents with heaters and a large replica of a guitar lowered by crane during the countdown to midnight.
Council members interviewed last week said they were likely to support the funding request. They are scheduled to vote on the measure during a 7 p. m. meeting tonight in City Hall.
Council Chairman Chris Robins said city officials saw a direct return on the city’s $95,000 investment in three summer concerts at the Hard Rock Cafe this year. Most of that money came from casino revenue; $15,000 came from hotel occupancy taxes.
City Controller Maria Brown told city officials last month that a threefold increase in revenue at the city’s Rainbow Centre parking ramp so far this year was mostly the result of extra traffic the concerts drove downtown.
“What we’ve seen is that there is some return,” Robin said. “The city, itself, is getting an easy idea on the return through parking revenue. At the same time, we’re getting activities downtown, which is a lot harder thing to do an analysis on.”
Others are still skeptical of spending casino revenue on one-time events.
Ron Anderluh, a coordinator for the Niagara Street Business Association, has told the Council several times that he and others believe casino revenue should be used for infrastructure or other economic development projects.
“I’m all for economic development,” Anderluh said. “I’m all for seeing events in the downtown area, but just don’t think the city should subsidize them all.”
The city’s expenses have paid for only part of the Hard Rock concerts. The restaurant and other sponsors have also shared a portion of the costs.
Councilman Steven D. Fournier said he believes city officials have struck the right balance between using most of the city’s casino revenue on items like street repair and new equipment, while still saving a portion of it for economic development and events.
Fournier called the downtown events a form of advertising for Niagara Falls.
“You can’t sink everything in the roads,” Fournier said. “First of all, there’s not enough time in the day. There’s not enough manpower. I think we’re doing record paving right now. . . . We do a lot with the casino money.”
Dyster said the New Year’s celebration could be a launching point for an even bigger event next year with more lead time to plan.
“This is something that, I think, at some point in the future could perhaps highlight a national-level act,” Dyster said. “I think what we’re trying to do is put together the basic structure of the event.”
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