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In The News

With our groundbreaking progress in Old Downtown Niagara Falls, Ontario it is easy to understand why we are in the news frequently. When you transform a forgotten city centre that has been neglected for decades, people begin to notice. Those of us who take great pride in our progress and accomplishments are grateful to be recognized for our efforts by the media and the public. Awareness in our community is very important to us accomplishing our goals. With the communities ongoing support we will continue to grow what is rapidly becoming known as the hub of arts and culture in Niagara falls.

Transforming The Falls Into Paris With Art

Vanasselstine has a vision for downtown Niagara Falls. He said that right now the many art galleries on Queen Street are Niagara's best-kept secret, but he and many other artists have a vision that it can become the Paris of Canada. Vanasselstine's art gallery was the first fulltime art gallery to come to the street and since then many others are trying to follow suit.

New-look Queen Street turns heads

Is arts haven key to downtown revitalization?

By splurging on a can of paint, Mordechai Grun has done more for Queen Street than Aaron Lichtman ever did. You'll notice a fresher appearance to several downtown buildings after recent paint jobs and other cosmetic improvements were made to some storefronts owned by Historic Niagara Development. In addition to the cosmetic surgery, this weekend’s Springlicious food and music festival, and the explosion of art galleries are encouraging signs downtown finally seems to be on the cusp of something big – something good – after years of neglect. Grun, originally from Toronto, is doing what Lichtman, from New York City, should have done three years ago. He's actually filling some storefronts, instead of leaving them empty, stagnating and dragging down everything around them.

A Springlicious lineup featuring food, music and wine

Downtown merchants hope that for three days this weekend, Queen Street will recapture some of its old magic. No longer known as a place of excitement and energy these days, that is expected to change starting Friday when Springlicious brings food, art and concerts to Niagara's downtown. Organizers are optimistic the first Springlicious festival could bring in as many as 30,000 visitors over the weekend, said Shane Sargant, executive director of Celebrate Old Downtown. That group created the festival to help boost Queen Street businesses. The aim is to also bring Niagara residents to the downtown core. "We want to show Niagara the opportunities, changes made, and what the vision is for downtown," said Sargant.

Downtown event shows locals will support efforts

If it's true that actions speak louder than words, there's a sense that maybe -just maybe -there is reason for optimism over plans to rejuvenate downtown Niagara Falls. For years we've heard the words. In the past few years a multi-million dollar plan that would have transformed the Queen Street business district was put forward. It got a lot of attention, but that was about it. Lots of talk, but little action. But things appear to be changing. These days, work crews are busy sprucing up store facades instead of boarding them up. Art can be seen through the front windows of Queen Street storefronts. Fresh coats of paint have been applied to surfaces that needed to be livened up. Which brings us to Celebrate Old Downtown and the first of its events this year, Springlicious. By most accounts, it was a resounding success.

Creative force Artists are mobilizing to create new vibe for Queen Street

There's a new movement trying to breathe life into the downtown and it is using creative force. Spearheaded by Niagara Falls artists, it's actually starting to fill some of the many empty storefronts on Queen Street, too. Melanie Mullen and the Where's My Downtown group, an army of local artists, have converted what used to be the Omega Bar on Queen Street into a new gathering place to showcase art. "Every artist (from Niagara Falls) has to go to Toronto or Montreal to showcase their work," said Mullen, who most recently ran for the Green Party during last October's provincial election. "Niagara Falls is saturated with so much talent and nowhere to show it." It's the artists' hope the city's downtown will become that place to showcase themselves. It's a grassroots movement that began a few weeks ago Mullen hopes will build a community downtown, which she says is a key ingredient to revitalization.

Springlicious proves Niagara Falls wants vibrant downtown, organizers say

Three days of food, wine, beer and music bring thousands to see new-look downtown

If downtown Niagara Falls comes back to life, the Springlicious weekend could earn a spot as a turning point in the city’s history. The wine and beer expo brought thousands of people to Queen Street from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Many saw the event, as well as the recent cosmetic improvements to some buildings, and the filling of a dozen previously vacant storefronts with art galleries, as a sign there’s some progress downtown. “I’m moving back if they have something like this all the time,” said Kim Maraldo, who used to rent an apartment on Queen Street across from city hall. She moved to Welland two years ago but is reconsidering after seeing the recent progress downtown. The community festival seemed to be having the effect organizers hoped for – to show off the recent improvements made to some Queen Street buildings and to draw some attention to the arrival of a dozen art galleries in formerly vacant storefronts. “Overall, I would say we’re ecstatic. We are delighted with the turnout,” said Ulrike Gross, chairwoman of the Downtown Business Improvement Area board. Celebrate Old Downtown, an organization created by the BIA, organized the event.

Niagara locals taking back their downtown

Taking back their downtown New group hopes to reclaim, revitalize city’s core area

They’re an eclectic group of young movers and shakers: Three twenty something aspiring musicians and an up-and-coming politician, all sharing the common goal of bringing new life to Queen Street. “The talent in this community blows me away,” Melanie Mullen said of the group Where’s My Downtown. It includes musicians, photographers, visual artists and members from outside the art community who are interested in revitalizing the city’s downtown core. The idea came from a group of artists who met at an open mic night in the tourist district and wanted to have a similar event downtown. “But we realized it might be a problem to do this again because there’s no place to do it,” said Brandon Agnew, a musician, photographer and chef. So earlier this month, about 20 members of the city’s arts community - from painters and photographers to musicians and filmmakers - sat down to find a way to bring Queen Street back to life.