Minolta Tower, Niagara Falls
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The Minolta Tower was originally named the Seagram Tower. Since it’s opening in 1962, it has gone bankrupt multiple times, and changed owners often as well. In 1969, it was called Heritage Tower. In 1971, it was called Royal Inn Tower. A year later it was called Royal Center Tower, a year after that it was Panasonic Tower, and eleven years later, in 1984, it was given the name it has today, Minolta Tower.
Minolta Tower has a wedding chapel, a hotel, a restaurant, and an indoor observation deck. It stands 325 feet tall from the street, but 525 feet above the falls. Construction of the tower started in 1961, and there was a fire during the construction, on September 2, 1961. The Tower officially opened on July 1, 1962, as the Seagram Tower.
The observation deck is located on the 25th floor of the tower, and offers a view of the Niagara River as well as the falls. The deck is enclosed with floor-to-ceiling windows, and because the windows are treated for glare, photographs taken from this observation deck turn out just fine. You will also find telescopes that you must pay to use here.
Inside Minolta Towers you will find the Pinnacle Restaurant, which serves steak and seafood. It is located on the 25th floor as well, and because there is a wedding chapel located inside the Minolta Tower, the Pinnacle Restaurant is often used for wedding receptions. The wedding chapel offers full service wedding packages including cake, flowers, an official, a wedding consultant, and photography. Packages may also include accommodations.
Numerous renovations were made to the Tower and it re-opened in 2002. The hotel portion of the Tower is operated by Ramada Plaza Fallsview, a four star hotel. The hotel offers numerous packages to make a stay there affordable.
While the tower was once considered a landmark, recent construction of high rise hotels in the area have not helped the Minolta Tower to maintain this status. Ironically, when the original construction of the Tower was being done, it was planned that hotels and such would be built by the same people on the surrounding land. However, for financial reasons, this was not done, and it took additional 40 years for others to do so.
Even if you don’t stay at the Minolta Towers, and the view has been slightly obscured, this is still a place worth visiting if you will be in the Niagara Falls area. Be sure to take pictures from the observation deck as well, and make sure that you visit the other towers in the area as well. Even though some buildings have changed the view from Minolta Towers, they do provide numerous places for eating and shopping as well. As with everything else, the grandness of the view is really up to the viewer.
