The $50.8 million Hotel Niagara renovation embodies both promise and peril.“The Hotel Niagara has been sitting in the situation that it’s in for well over a dozen years,” the mayor notes. “They are finalizing some of their financing and should get underway with preparation and construction work, I’d like to think before the end of this calendar year.” Legal disputes between developers have already delayed the 160-room project multiple times since 2021. Mayor Restaino’s deepest concern stems from hardlearned lessons. “We walked into a life without hospitality. We were here for a little less than 10 weeks when COVID hit,” he recalls. “Suddenly we had to deal with an economy that really had its legs cut out from under it. We need to prepare for a balanced economy, one that is able to navigate through anything.” After five years steering Niagara Falls through a crisis toward recovery, Mayor Restaino understands that sustainable success requires more than tourist 57 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 08 NIAGARA FALLS, NY
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