above: Mar.6, 2009 - same view; the now-abandoned (yes, abandoned, for several decades) former Electrical Development Co. (aka Toronto Power) generating station still sits at the left. The pipe, buried under the grass in the foreground, now carries no water, because the station to which it supplied water is
also abandoned; in fact, all three former state-of-the-art pioneer hydro-generating stations which were located right at the Horseshoe Falls area now sit closed (the third station - Ontario Power - is just below the falls, down at river level, below where the Casino now is): this, as Ontario's McGuinty Liberals gamble hundreds of millions of tax-dollars on costly, inefficient wind power and other phony green-bolshevik energy "solutions".
The electrical-generating infrastructure here, that had served this province well for a hundred years, has been left to decline, unrenovated, while the constantly-available water just flows by, wasted. Another flicking shame - but hey, energy cock-ups are what you get with Liberals in charge, especially George Smitherman, the tool who helped devastate health-care in Ontario.
Why are these old Niagara generating stations sitting essentially abandoned? Why the hell aren't these generators being refurbished and rebuilt with new technology? Isn't this a prime example of a worthy, 'shovel-ready' REAL infrastructure project, not just some make-work scheme for Liberal GreenFear-pushing rent-seekers?? Sure the new Beck plant down near Queenston is being planned, and the new "Big Becky" tunnel is being bored, but
there still must be economically worthwhile power - renewable power - that can be utilized from these three vacant generating stations!
There is still a
massive head of water which is available through these three stations!
A shopping mall/retail concept is being talked about for the Toronto Power plant seen above: yeah, with all the empty retail space already in downtown Niagara Falls, we need to spend more (government) money to build more retail space here?! Brilliant.
(In 2015, Niagara Falls mayor Jim Diodati made some kind of deal with China's communists to build some kind of new nebulous 'Chinatown' on a 400+ acre site above the Falls, near the Thundering Waters golf course)
If Rankin Construction can build new, much-smaller hydro-generating stations alongside the ship locks of the Welland Canal in St. Catharines (...using a relatively-meager water-flow which pales in comparison to the massive flow wasted at Niagara...) why isn't anyone attempting a massive rebuild of any of these idle stations in Niagara Falls? (Or even developing a 'river-run' generation set-up??)
Where is the Liberal government's leadership on this greenest-of-green issue - harnessing Ontario's water power?
The river wing-weirs are there, the intakes are there, the intake and tailrace tunnels are there, in various configurations, at each of the 3 old stations. This available infrastructure could all be re-engineered with new methods and technologies! This would be truly an exciting and worthwhile engineering challenge. The existing buildings could be readapted/modernized, existing tunnels and shaft pits could be relined; new state of the art turbines developed, etc. etc.
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below: Looking north-east towards Table Rock; the American Falls are at the top centre, and the Horseshoe Falls are at the right.
The Niagara Falls Library dates this photo ca.1906; noting the building at the lower right is the IRC International Railway Co. station, which generated electrical power for the IRC's great Gorge Route streetcar system; its intake channel is at the far right. The old Table Rock building (built by Saul Davis in 1853, demolished in 1926) is seen at the far upper left, seen with the cupola. The 'new' Table Rock building, as we know it today, was built in 1927 nearer to where the middle building is; more closer to that still-familiar slight round protrusion that juts out at the edge of the Horseshoe Falls. That middle building was the Niagara Falls city water pumping station, seen further below. At the bottom of the above photo, the pipeline leading to the Ontario Power Co. surge tanks is shown being buried.
above: Mar.6, 2009 - same location, looking towards the 'new' Table Rock in the far centre-right distance, and the new pedestrian overpass is seen in the centre-left distance. (
click on photos to enlarge!) On top of where the pipe was buried is now a massive, money-making parking lot for the Niagara Parks Commission.
above: a closer view of the Niagara Falls pumping station, which was seen previously above. It was built in 1888, abandoned in 1930, and demolished in 1938. Date of this photo not known; this view looks east, the familiar cut-stone fence wall at the gorge edge is seen in the distance.
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below: the steel bridge which had carried streetcars across the IRC generating station's intake channel was demolished, and the channel itself was filled-in with rocks from the river, during Dec.1937. (click photos to enlarge!)
above: the Niagara river would be to the left in the photo; the channel is shown being filled in, with some water still seen at the bottom. This bridge can also be seen in the fourth-above photo, at the far right. I wonder if those concrete bridge piers seen at the left were actually fully removed, or just buried, and are maybe still there?! Photo from the Niagara Falls Review, Dec.27, 1937.
See
here for another photo which shows the IRC station's intake channel and bridge, seen in context to the river. (Click photos to enlarge!!)
above: a 1921 aerial view of the buildings at Table Rock. The IRC generating station is circled in light blue, and the streetcar tracks which cross the intake channel are also outlined in light blue: this is the channel which would be filled in 16 years later, as seen in the previous photo. Note that River Rd. ran closer to river gorge back then, and it also crossed the intake channel on another bridge. After the new Table Rock House was built, River Rd. was later slightly reconfigured to pass behind the new building.
Also, the Niagara Falls pumping station is seen outlined in yellow.
The original Table Rock building is seen outlined in red. The new Table Rock would be built 6 years later where the green X is. The blue line along the bottom shows the curved run of the water conduit leading to the Ontario Power station.
below: a view looking south-east, probably taken from just north of the Inspiration Point Michigan Central railroad station, nearly about where the Minolta Tower now is. The Niagara Falls Library dates this photo as July 10, 1910. In the
far left distance along the Niagara River, the 1906 Electrical Development Co. generating station building can be seen.
In the middle-centre-right is the William Birch Rankine hydro-powered electrical generating station, which was inaugurated Jan.1, 1905, and built by the Canadian Niagara Power Co. The pipeline leading to the Ontario Power plant is seen again under construction, as it was being buried; today that area is a long parking lot.
above: Both now-closed hydro stations are seen in the distance in this May 11, 2009 view, taken from above the long-abandoned old Michigan Central train station platform, which is seen along the bottom. Further up can be seen a line of cars parked at the bottom of the hill - this is where the pipeline is buried.
above: Mar.6, 2009 - a closer view, still looking south-east, of the same Canadian Niagara Power station seen previously above. As can be seen from the previous shot, the pipeline to Ontario Power is buried under the parking lot in the foreground. (Of course, this pipeline had nothing at all to do with the CNP plant; the pipeline was just passing by the CNP plant, on its way to supply river water for the Ontario Power plant, further downstream). The CNP got its water supply directly from the river, from a massive wing dam built along the river bank; the spent water was then drained into a tailrace tunnel which emerged at the bottom of the gorge, below the Falls - right near the Ontario Power plant!
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Older photos in this study are from the Niagara Falls Library Archive. The recent photos are by R. Bobak.
above: same view, June 2010 - the same building at the right now houses the Chippawa Pharmacy at 8172 Cummington Sq. W. 
above: on the storefront was this sign, noting a quote from Ontario's premier Liberal liar, Dalton McGuinty: " "It's not the government's job to ensure the survival of smaller pharmacies who say the changes will force them to close their doors, [Dalton] McGuinty said" - Canadian Press, Apr.20, 2010 "
Another notice in the front window reads: "The McGuinty government is cutting frontline healthcare at your local pharmacy. That means less service for you. Some pharmacies may even close."
above: on the storefront was this sign, noting a quote from Ontario's premier Liberal liar, Dalton McGuinty: " "It's not the government's job to ensure the survival of smaller pharmacies who say the changes will force them to close their doors, [Dalton] McGuinty said" - Canadian Press, Apr.20, 2010 "
Another notice in the front window reads: "The McGuinty government is cutting frontline healthcare at your local pharmacy. That means less service for you. Some pharmacies may even close."
+R.+Bobak+Feb24,09.JPG)
below: Nov.3, 2008 - the former-Survivor Inn site, still fenced, looking east along Kitchener St. towards Buchanan Ave. The Waldorf motel is seen in the left distance. (The Waldorf, owned at the time by Mr. A. Saccomano, was opened in June 1952 as a 17 unit motel, and was built by contractor A. Bignucolo and Sons)
