Niagara Falls: Rainbow Centre

Any casual traveler to Niagara Falls knows that there is this garish parking-lot of a building located almost directly across the street from the Falls. The Rainbow Centre was built in the late 1970s to much urban-renewal fanfare. It has been empty for about four years, having failed first as an upscale shopping destination, and later as an outlet mall. Only a gift shop and an OTB parlor remain. The developer of the Rainbow Centre, one David Cordish, seems to have a better track record running his mouth than building stuff. At least in the Falls. Trump and the IRS are going after Cordish for a sweet deal he cut himself for the development of some Indian casinos down in Florida. Karma. Has Niagara Falls ever done anything to enforce its agreement with Cordish, whereby he agreed to run a first-class facility? From our friends at the Niagara Falls Reporter:

"Several years ago, Cordish threatened to sue the Niagara Falls Reporter after the paper published a series of articles detailing his failure to pay property taxes on the Rainbow Centre Mall. No suit was filed and, subsequently, Cordish negotiated a settlement on the taxes. But the problem remains. Since the mall's closing in September 2001, Cordish spokesmen have announced any number of plans for its re-opening. But, like his threatened lawsuit against the Reporter, none of the plans ever materialized. Today, Rainbow Centre sits largely abandoned, housing only the Off-Track Betting parlor. Some of the space is rented to the Seneca Nation of Indians, who use it as a warehouse. In August 2003, Cordish claimed to have spent $8.5 million -- including $2 million in state tax money -- to open Theater in the Mist, an attraction known to locals as the city's largest gift shop.