Hotel Niagara in line for $15.2 million restoration
Work is designed to create luxury accomodations at Niagara Falls hotel
NIAGARA FALLS — Velvet-flocked wallpaper that lines the two-story lobby in the Hotel Niagara on Rainbow Boulevard will be peeled back.
Light pink paint that covers the stone exterior on the ground level of the 12-story building will be chipped off.
And drywall that has covered original plaster work for years will be removed.
A $15.2 million restoration of the building will focus on restoring many of its original 1924 features and upgrading what has been a struggling budget hotel in recent years to luxury accommodations, the building’s owners said Thursday.
“Literally, we are trying to uncover the layers that have been added on through the years,” said Judith Cook, who with her husband last year purchased the hotel at auction.
The state’s USA Niagara Development Corp. officially announced Thursday that the state will contribute a $3.5 million grant toward the restoration. The City of Niagara Falls has also pledged $500,000 of the city’s casino revenue.
Houston-based Amidee Capital Group, owned by Judith and James T. Cook, will finance the rest of the project.
Amidee Capital purchased the building at auction for $4.6 million plus $300,000 in fees last year, but the couple ran into delays getting the restoration under way.
James Cook said the project would not have been possible without state and local financial help.
“Quite frankly, if it wasn’t for them, this project would not be getting off the ground,” he said.
plan to rid the building of its shabby layers of rugs, faux wood paneling and mirrors and reopen it as a luxury hotel with two restaurants, a rooftop club, boutique shops and a fitness center.
Workers have already removed floor-to-ceiling mirrors that lined the hotel’s two-story lobby. On the mezzanine level, contractors uncovered unusual steel girder work that will be left exposed as a feature of a planned upscale continental restaurant called Flappers.
In some areas, several layers of wall coverings hid the building’s original features.
“Things come and go out of fashion,” said David Giusiana of Giusiana Architects & Engineers. “That’s what this building suffered from throughout its history.”
The hotel, which opened in 1924, is one of three 1920s-era high-rise buildings in the downtown Niagara Falls neighborhood. Across the street, the United Office Building is also undergoing a renovation.
The Cooks said they are working with the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to place the building on the state and national registers.
State and city officials — including State Sen. Antoine M. Thompson, D-Buffalo; Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston; and Mayor Paul A. Dyster — hailed the project during a Thursday news conference as another step in the revitalization of the city’s tourism district.
The operators of the nearby Conference Center Niagara Falls have said that a limited number of upscale hotel rooms in the city have limited their ability to book large events.
DelMonte said, “It’s adding to the mix of rooms that we absolutely need here.”
