Casino Tower

The Oneida Community was established in 1848 at Oneida, New York by John Humphrey Noyes. This was perhaps the first communal community established in North America. In 1877, a segment of this community began making and selling iron spoons in order to make a living. In 1880, this Oneida Community broke apart. A segment of the Oneida's continued to manufacture spoons. This segment of this community under the leadership of John Noyes and his ancestors established the Oneida Silversmith Factory in Niagara Falls in 1926. They owned a large tract of land along the north side of Clifton Hill where they built a manufacturing business including offices and a factory.[2]

In 1963, the Oneida Community Developments Company (Canada) Limited decided to further develop its Niagara Falls property by building a tower and commercial stores in a complex facing Falls Avenue. Under the direction of then company president, Pierrepont T. Noyes, an observation tower measuring 104 metres (341 feet) tall was built. The top of the flag mast was 108 metres (355 feet) above Falls Avenue.

This tower and commercial complex was designed by architect Alan R. Moody and it was constructed in six months by the Frankel Steel Company of Toronto. This tower was built of an open steel frame construction and was the first of its construction type ever built in Canada.

A building crane with a two hundred and ninety foot long boom was used to build this steel and glass structure. The base of this tower was created utilizing 350 tons of steel embedded into four concrete - sixteen foot square cubes of concrete. Each block weighed 300 tons, each of which was anchored into the bedrock.

Construction progressed at a rate of six feet per day. The top of this tower was capped with a two-storey observation deck capable of holding 1,500 people at a time. The tower was completed in June 1964. Price of admission to the observation deck was $1 per adult and 25¢ per child. Two glass-enclosed elevators at the center of this tower were capable of carrying 1,800 people per hour. The fifty second long elevator ride would take passengers 278 feet to the lower observation level. From this lower deck, people could walk up to the top observation deck located ten feet above. The upper deck was a partially open, providing people with excellent views of the Falls through special openings in the wire mesh fencing and to provide for the taking of pictures.

In case of emergencies, both elevators which were built side by side had side entrances. In the case that one elevator became stuck, the other could be maneuvered beside the stranded elevator and the passengers transferred from the stricken elevator and safely returned to the ground level. A 500-step stairway for emergency use only was also available.

In addition to the tower, a five store - two storey commercial plaza was built at the base. The cost of this project was 10 million dollars of which the tower cost one million dollars. At night this tower was illuminated in a manner so that just the observation decks were lighted giving the appearance that it was hanging in mid-air.

A giant 50 ft by 30 ft neon company sign adorned the top of the tower. In 1974, the sign was removed because rust had rendered it unsafe.