There were subtle, and not so subtle, threats of legal action.
There were calls for members of the Falls City Council to act with “moral courage” and to take on a South End land owner.
One Niagara Falls High School student even told the council, “Our voices will be heard. We refuse to be ignored.”
But in the end, even after two dozen speakers had paraded to the public podium in the council chambers to cajole, plead and demand that the former Native American Center for the Living Arts, the Turtle, be given the designation of a “historic structure,” the city council resoundingly rejected those calls.
Only Council Member Brian Archie (D), who sponsored the resolution to confirm the unanimous recommendation of the Falls Historic Preservation Commission to designate the Turtle as a city landmark, voted yes. Council Chair James Perry (D), Members Traci Bax (R), and David Zajac (R), all voted no.
Council Member Donta Myles (D) abstained on the proposal.
It was a bitter result for most of the people who packed the council chambers to back the Preservation Commission’s 712-page report and recommendation that found that the Turtle met four out of five requirements to be considered for landmark status. Preservationists with Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) said meeting even one requirement would have been sufficient to give the Turtle a historic structure designation.
Elizabeth Adams, a Mohawk from the Six Nations Grand River Territory, told the council that she helped spur the landmark proposal. She said the Turtle inspired her career as a museum curator and educator.
“I did this hoping to protect and preserve its beauty and symbolism and turning back into a museum,” Adams said. “To educate and re-educate visitors about Indigenous history through storytelling. I cannot tell these stories if you tear that building down.”
Adams also said Indigenous tourism is now a $14 billion industry in the United States.
The Turtle is owned by NFR Turtle LLC, a subsidiary of Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR). An NFR attorney, Ryan Altieri, pushed back against the Preservation Commission recommendation. Altieri said The Turtle had been a failure during its brief existence.
He said a lack of visitor support and financial difficulties doomed the museum. Altieri also said the council was “legally bound” to reject the landmark designation based on the structure’s age, a lack of support from various Falls city departments and the allegedly illegal composition of the Preservation Commission.
“The Turtle is not a historic landmark,” Altieri concluded.
The NFR lawyer said his client was, however, willing to listen to “alternative offers” for the Turtle, including proposals to purchase the property.
Michael Martin, the executive director of Native American Community Services of Erie & Niagara Counties, said his agency and other interested parties had previously met with NFR representatives to discuss the Turtle’s future and even potentially explore buying the building.
“Our organization would be (interested) in making this building an asset to future generations,” Martin said. “NFR needs to provide a real price (for the building). When we toured (the Turtle) we asked how much (to buy it) all (NFR) did was ask us where we were getting the money.”
Bernice Radle, the executive director of Preservation Buffalo Niagara, attempted to challenge some of Altieri’s claims, but when she turned to address him, the Harter Secrest attorney had already left city hall. Unable to confront Altieri, Radle defended the Preservation Commission’s report and concluded, “We need to save the Turtle. It should be landmarked. We are the experts.”
Amelia Jacob, a member of Niagara Falls High School’s Native American Youth Club, which has championed the “reawakening” of the Turtle, told the council members, “This is more than a building to us. It is a piece of every native standing before you tonight.”
Madelyn Jacob, another NFHS youth club member, said, “The Turtle was taken from us, like candy from a baby.” In response to NFR’s suggestions that the land where The Turtle sits would be better used as a hotel, Jacob said, “People don’t come to Niagara Falls to take pictures of a hotel.”
After the council meeting, Turtle supporters said they would continue their efforts to win landmark status. Representatives of PBN had suggested during the meeting that a failure by the council to adopt the Preservation Commission recommendation could lead to legal action.