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The Niagara Falls viewing platform at the elevators in the State Park is closed for maintenance being performed by the Maid of the Mist Corporation.
Just below, the new Crow’s Nest extension is on schedule to be open by Memorial Day according to a State Parks spokesperson.
Meanwhile, plans are progressing to rework the railings on the deck which was the scene of two suicides last summer that disrupted the Maid boats for several hours.
The summer’s first jumper hit the water. A tour guide who witnessed the tragedy said it sounded like a shotgun. The body never surfaced but one sneaker floated.
The same guide also had the misfortune of witnessing the second jumper, a well-known Buffalo restaurant front-end manager who hit the concrete in front of tourists. The Maid corporation allowed the worker, who had the body land 3-feet from her, to go home for the day.
She reportedly attempted to return to work later in the summer but could not handle it.
After that body was carted away, workers power washed the concrete and reopened later in the afternoon.
For the remainder of the summer, steel barriers were put on the viewing platform with a State Park ranger patrolling to deter any further capitulations of human frailty.
The suicides were the only two in memory from that location.
Unconfirmed reports are that the new railings may be as high as 10-feet.
Meanwhile, the railings on the bridge to Luna Island, where a young mother and her two children died in the summer of 2024 remain unchanged.
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