Niagara Falls Redevelopment, the longtime owner of a stretch of land including the former Nabisco plant, wants to build a new hotel.

While this would be the first progress we’ve seen in decades from NFR, they’re looking to destroy a landmark building: the Turtle.

The Turtle was formerly home to the Native American Center for the Living Arts, although it has been closed for decades.

According to the Niagara Gazette, NFR has submitted a request for a variance to build above the height limit near the Falls. The plan includes a hotel that is set to go right on top of the land currently occupied by the Turtle.

In a period of time when Governor Andrew Cuomo has included the purchase of land (including the Turtle) in the Buffalo Billion Squared initiative, it seems that NFR is again ready to try to make use of their property.

Is tearing down the Turtle the right answer? Not really. The last thing that Niagara Falls needs right now is a hotel. I’ve said it quite a few times: the Turtle should be given to Nik Wallenda as a summer outpost. He says he wants to be here, give in a building as distinct as his stunts!

Yet here we are, talking about tearing down a building to put in another hotel. If it was for any other reason, I might approve. For a hotel, I cannot.

What do you think of this? Should we save the Turtle? Leave a comment below, and please share this post: we need to get the message out about this!

-Sheepie ❤