Turtle designated eligible for Preservation

Last winter, the Niagara Falls City Council declined to accept the recommendation of the city’s Historic Preservation Board to designate the Turtle as meriting a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the hearings and discussions leading up to the vote, both the architectural significance and age were called into question.

Preservation Buffalo Niagara, (PBN) undaunted in its effort to save the landmark, has now received a “declaration of eligibility” from the state Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

It means that when the building is 50 years old, PBN could apply for the building to receive the designation even without the cooperation of Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) which owns the former Native American Center for the Living Arts.

NFR could decide to work with PBN to preserve the building but views the real estate it sits on as more significant than the structure.

Any significant redevelopment, whether as a turtle-shaped building or something else, would require parking spaces in the vicinity which don’t exist. The Hotel Niagara suffers the same conundrum.

The state addressed the age of the structure thusly:

“While planning for the project started in 1976 and it has not yet reached the 50-year mark, the building appears to be exceptionally significant for the relative rarity of its iconic zoomorphic form. The turtle holds great spiritual significance to the indigenous community, and its sitting, with its head raised to look over Niagara Falls, further connected it to this sacred location.”

The Niagara Falls Council, when it declined the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation, never discussed the merit of building, instead focusing on a discussion of whether the ordinance should exist. It was a hearing about whether the building was eligible for designation, not property rights as defined in the Constitution.

NFR is pushing forward with its plans for the Urbacon Data Center on land the city is attempting to seize through eminent domain adjacent to John Daly Boulevard and the Casino, a half-mile from the entertainment district.

The Urbacon plan is in conflict with the Restaino administration’s vision for Centennial Park, a hockey/entertainment arena planned for the desolate area adjacent to the casino and owned by NFR.

PBN will host a brief celebration at Cataract Park, adjacent to the Turtle, to celebrate its victory at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13.