(WBEN) Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the design for a new, $46 million state-of-the-art visitor center in Niagara Falls State Park. The new facility will be a gateway to adventure along the Niagara River Corridor, greatly improving the visitor experience, complementing nature, increasing the length of visits within the park in all four seasons, and enhancing awareness of nearby recreational and cultural offerings. The Governor also announced that the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has committed $8 million in grant funding toward the construction of the Welcome Center. The Welcome Center is a signature project of Governor Cuomo's NY Parks 100 initiative announced in this year's State of the State proposals.
The new 28,000-square-foot visitor center will include new ticketing and information desks, interpretive museum space including an immersive experience and exhibits highlighting a diversity of topics including natural, industrial and Indigenous American history; new concession spaces; restrooms and associated support spaces. The glass, steel and concrete facility has been designed to complement nature and include a rooftop solar array, green roof elements and a separate restroom building. Enhanced site amenities include new accessible paths; plantings; outdoor exhibits, and interpretive and wayfinding elements. The existing 7,000-square-foot regional administration building immediately adjacent to the facility will be adapted to include a multi-purpose community room, regional archives and offices for Niagara regional interpretive staff.
The $8 million grant from the not-for-profit Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, created after the 2014 death of Wilson, the former owner of the Buffalo Bills and a co-founder of the American Football League, continues Ralph Wilson's remarkable legacy of support for tourism, parks and outdoor recreation, trail development, and community revitalization in Western New York.
