Clifton Hill

Proposed tram route would have five stops.

Dubbed the Niagara River Line, the system would feature five stations running from the Rapids View parking area to Clifton Hill, roughly 3.8 kilometers one way, with stops near Table Rock, Murray Street, Clifton Hill, and the future Toronto Power Hotel.

Adamas described it as a hop-on, hop-off, all-day fare system, functioning as both a visitor transportation system and an attraction with pricing to be determined.

A track elevated from the ground and positioned away from the Niagara River and Parkway would hug the inland side of Queen Victoria Park.

While parks commissioners thought the ride would be a huge hit with tourists, massive opposition by Niagara residents resulted in the commission scrapping that plan.

Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates said on Wednesday he has several questions related to what he described as the latest gondola-style mega-attraction.

I want to see major private sector investment in Niagara Falls, said Gates, adding it should be on privately owned property, such as that on Clifton Hill or the now-closed Marineland site.

Adamas was quick to distinguish the tram from past proposals.

Niagara Falls is like, it's literally a tourist trap.

I mean, if you go up Clifton Hill, I mean, they have wax museums and stuff out there, man.

The locals ain't going there for that.

No, I

We were so traumatized into looking and going, "I hope that plane is landing at an airport and not into a building downtown somewhere." I h- I, it, it ...

Like, it, eventually the, the security, um, some of the security measures were increased to the point where I can't even go to Clifton Hill on the n- Canadian side of Niagara Falls without having a passport.

Uh, we were just all hysterical at that time, and I guess it's understandable, and it's also pretty easy as to how they were able to sell the war on terror.

It's why they weren't able to sell the war in Iran, 'cause they just did a really horrible job with it earlier this year.

So that's still open.

Until that happens, we haven't heard about what's going to happen with the Ferris wheel on Clifton Hill from the Oaks family.

We don't know what's happening with the RFP.

The challenge is, what if...

It was just, you know, a guy or a girl smoking a cigarette just waving you past on the border.

[laughs] Like, I, I remember, like, my dad and mom taking us to Clifton Hill and just literally just everybody smoking everywhere.

Just, "Ah, go ahead, doesn't matter." But it was easy to do that, you know.

And it was, you know, pen pals.

[laughs]

I, uh, we, we would joke...

God, it's funny you bring up Pizza Pizza, 'cause we had an inside joke for years that our first... [laughs] Like, when we would go to Clifton Hill...

It, it's funny, I, I, I was talking to somebody who, my buddy from Edmonton, he had just brought his, um, his daughter to Niagara Falls for the first time.

Pietrangelo said he's proud of many Council accomplishments during the past three decades, both at the direction of Council and stemming from his ideas.

Getting rid of the train that crossed over Clifton Hill was a major decision that was pretty controversial at the time.

But it really transformed the tourist core in Niagara Falls," he said.

I can't imagine looking back and still seeing a train going through Clifton Hill.

The Canadian Pacific Railway freight train tracks that crossed over the top of Clifton Hill at Victoria Avenue was removed in the early 2000s.

Patrangelo also pointed to Council's longtime push to bring GO Train service, a new hospital, and a university to the city, along with establishing clear pillars for where more than $20 million the municipality receives annually for hosting two casinos is allocated, including about $6 million to offset local property taxes.

As well, the idea for a wastewater treatment plant in the growing south end of Niagara Falls goes back to when Pietrangelo brought forward a motion in 2016 calling on the municipality to begin planning for such a facility.