page_title: Casino Tower
section_title: Kodak Tower
hierarchical_section_title: Casino Tower / Kodak Tower
caption_attribution_description: English: Crop from a larger image taken of a gasoline price sign. The tower happened to be in the frame. Today, May 8, 2013, I did a Google Earth search for this area. Apparently it has been rebuilt.
context_page_description: The Casino Tower, formerly known as the Oneida Tower and Kodak Tower, is a 355-foot-tall open steel tower in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Designed by the architect Alan R. Moody, it was built in a matter of six months by Frankel Steel Company of Toronto in the busy tourist season of 1964.
  In 1974, the Oneida Tower became known as the Niagara Tower and Plaza Limited. In 1985, this tower became the centre piece of the Maple Leaf Village Shopping Complex under the name of "Kodak Tower".
  The tower received a new look to reflect its more upscale surroundings, although there is no public access. It is now simply known as the "Casino Tower", and is being used as a large sign for the casino.
context_section_description: In 1974, Oneida relocated their offices and York Hannover Developments and Worst holdings 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 by two years the opening of Canada's Wonderland, 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 theatre, numerous attractions (through the years: That's Incredible! museum and the Elvis Presley 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. On the north side of the property was a carnival midway, complete with "North America's Largest" Ferris wheel 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 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.
caption: Kodak Tower, 1989
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