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Maple Leaf Village is a former amusement park and entertainment complex in
Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the Canada 2016 Census, 2016 census. It is part of the List of census ...
. Opened in May 1979 it was operated by
Conklin Shows Conklin Shows was the largest traveling amusement corporation in North America. The 75-year-old company operated traveling carnivals at various summer agricultural shows across North America and is based in Brantford, Ontario and formerly also in ...
(operators of the midway at the Toronto
Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day ...
). Falling on hard economic times in the early 1990s, it was restructured and replaced with
Casino Niagara Casino Niagara is a commercial casino located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It opened on December 9, 1996, on the site of the former Maple Leaf Village amusement park. With a prime location beside Clifton Hill, it was originally conceived a ...
, a government-run casino.


Early history

In the early 1900s, the land was host to Frontier Amusement Park, which boasted one of Canada's first all-steel roller coasters. By 1910, the amusement park was abandoned and dismantled. Known today for their manufacture of fine silverware, the Oneida Community Plate Corporation Ltd. constructed their local corporate offices here by the 1940s. It was decided in the 1960s to construct an observation tower with a view of the falls from their north side. (The Seagram Tower, now the Tower Hotel, had been constructed in 1962 with a view from the south side). Billed as the area's first open-steel observation tower, it was opened for business by the 1964 tourist season. This tower was known as the Oneida Tower, and eventually as Kodak Tower.


Amusement park

When Oneida relocated their offices in the late 1970s, York Hannover Developments Ltd. and Wost Holdings Ltd. invested $26 million in the creation of an amusement park concept, after the site was cleared. Its initial annual payroll was $3 million. The park pre-dated the opening of
Canada's Wonderland Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life A ...
by two years, presumed at that point to cost $105 million when completed. The three-story complex of Maple Leaf Village was constructed around the tower. It boasted a multi-screen movie theater, numerous attractions (through the years, the
That's Incredible! ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of '' You Asked for It'', ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and '' Real People'', the show featured people p ...
museum and the
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
Museum were here), countless souvenir and apparel stores, Lillie Langtry's tavern and club and, in later years, the first locale for the Canadian comedy cabaret,
Yuk-Yuk's Yuk Yuk's is a national comedy club chain in Canada, founded by former stand-up comedian Mark Breslin and established in 1976 by Breslin and long-time friend Joel Axler. The company is currently run by Breslin and his long-time partner and pres ...
. On the North side of the property was a complete carnival midway, complete with "North America's Largest"
Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
which, along with the tower (now called the Kodak Tower) dominating the northern tourist skyline. As part of the Clifton Hill tourist area, the facility was well received and attracted numerous crowds for years. Eventually, however, the novelty began to wear thin as shops folded and main tenants relocated to other locations with more suitable infrastructure. Admission costs to the Kodak Tower were eliminated for a few years, until unsafe conditions closed the tower altogether in the early 1990s. At the end of the 1992 season, the amusement park closed down. In early spring of 1993 the Ferris wheel was dismantled and shipped to Asia for use there. By January 1994, only a dozen shops remained in operation throughout the sprawling three-story structure. Redevelopment of the property was necessary, as many more shops were preferring on-street access in the burgeoning tourist area. The Maple Leaf Village Mall closed for the last time on February 1, 1995.
Casino Niagara Casino Niagara is a commercial casino located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It opened on December 9, 1996, on the site of the former Maple Leaf Village amusement park. With a prime location beside Clifton Hill, it was originally conceived a ...
opened in the building on December 7, 1996 and is still in operation today. The site was intended to be temporary, but the new site was filled by the
Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort The Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort (commonly known as ''Fallsview Casino'') is a resort casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It opened publicly on June 10, 2004. The $1 billion complex overlooks the Horseshoe Falls and is one of the most ...
. The tower received a new look to reflect its more upscale surroundings, although there currently is no public access. It is now simply known as the Casino Tower, and is being used as a large sign for the casino.


See also

*
Fallsview Casino The Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort (commonly known as ''Fallsview Casino'') is a resort casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It opened publicly on June 10, 2004. The $1 billion complex overlooks the Horseshoe Falls and is one of the most ...
*
Clifton Hill (Niagara Falls) Clifton Hill is one of the major tourist promenades in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The street, close to Niagara Falls and the Niagara River, leads from River Road on the Niagara Parkway to intersect with Victoria Avenue, and contains a number of gif ...


References

{{reflist


External links


Closed Canadian Parks page- Maple Leaf Village Amusement Park (1979 - 1992)Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections at Niagara Falls (Ont.) Public Library


Culture of Niagara Falls, Ontario Defunct amusement parks in Canada 1979 establishments in Ontario 1992 disestablishments in Ontario Buildings and structures in Niagara Falls, Ontario Amusement parks opened in 1979 Amusement parks closed in 1992