Protecting beauty of falls may become a tall order

A company founded by Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano has approached city leaders about building wind turbines on old industrial sites in the city.

While the company sees economic opportunity, the prospect exists for millions of tourists to see windmills on the horizon of Niagara Falls.

“The issue for us is one more of aesthetics than anything else,” said Thomas J. DeSantis, senior planner for the city. “Is it OK to put a 600-foot wind generating station at Falls and First streets? Probably not.

“I think because we’re Niagara Falls, and because we have certain scenic and national resources that are important to us, that we’ll want to try to protect them in some small way, we’ll want to look at those issues.”

Empire State Wind Energy representatives have had discussions about the potential for a public-private partnership to construct power- generating wind turbines in the Falls, and have told city leaders that spots like the former Love Canal property or long-vacant factory sites hold potential.

Niagara Falls does not look like many other communities where windmills have been constructed. It is urban, nearly built out and almost entirely flat. Wind maps show much more potential along communities that line Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

But Niagara Falls has something else that is attractive to those trying to produce more electricity.

“Anywhere you go, there are those massive power lines all over,” Councilman Sam Fruscione said. “They see Niagara Falls as a good potential because of all the power lines that they can hook into.”

Still, height will become an important issue in any windmill proposal.

Fruscione said Empire State Wind Energy representatives have discussed two options for windmills: large turbines like those in Lackawanna that would generate more power, or smaller turbines.

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