Downtown in Transition

     As you make your way through Downtown Niagara Falls you will find that there are many buildings in need of adaptive reuse. These include the Fall Street Fair Building, Power City Building, Turtle Building, Hotel Niagara, and numerous buildings along Third and Niagara Streets. However, there is progress being made in the long vacant Rainbow Center. The former mall is under construction and being renovated to accommodate the Niagara County Community College's Culinary School, a Wine Store, and possibly a Barnes and Noble. It is impossible to travel through Downtown Niagara Falls without hearing the sound of rubble being excavated. First street is partially closed due to this construction and traveling downtown has become even more difficult. The facade of the Rainbow Center facing Old Falls Street is fenced off due to I presume the Asbestos treatment currently nearing completion. In other words, the construction of this massive structure in Downtown is a bit messy and doesn't exactly create an inviting tourist environment. If this were happening in any other city or neighborhood where residents are being disturbed I might actually care about the mess and the noise. But in the case of the Rainbow Center, the sound and mess created from construction anywhere downtown is a sign of progress. It is a sign that things are finally beginning to change in Downtown Niagara Falls. I'll make an exception for the nuisance anytime it involves progress in this city.