An unceremonious end for a formerly high-end Niagara resort – Inn On The Niagara Parkway Motel

July 2024

The Inn On The Niagara Parkway opened as a high-end resort in June 1959 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This Hitchcock-ian relic was billed at the time as a “modern” resort motel that also boasted both a restaurant and a dairy bar. Amenities included an outdoor swimming pool, mini golf, a games area and a souvenir shop. The rooms came with air conditioning and exposed brick walls.

In 1989, owner Dino Dicienzo was looking to demolish the old motel and build two 14-storey towers hotel towers on the four acre property. This application was rejected, so Dicienzo appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Although the OMB ruled in Dicienzo’s favour two years later, the tourism market had declined and the expansion was put on hold.

The Inn On The Niagara Parkway closed in 2007.

The abandoned motel sat for over a decade, slowly crumbling and being consumed by overgrown vegetation. In April 2019, the first of two fires attempted to speed up the deterioration process. A second one on 1 May 2021 resulted in the complete destruction of all but one guest wing. Professional and volunteer firefighters battled the fire for several hours, while Niagara Regional Police and Niagara Parks Police blocked off the road near the fire for several hours. An excavator was later required to pull down parts of the building as firefighters worked to extinguish the fire.

In the end, all the buildings were demolished, except for one of the guest wings at the back of the property.

Sources: Fire destroys shuttered Niagara Falls hotel (niagarafallsreview.ca), No Vacancy: The Inn on the Niagara Parkway Motel – Meet Me at the Soda Fountain (home.blog), Historic Niagara Falls – Details (niagarafallsheritage.ca).