Niagara Falls State Park Welcome Center named after Ralph C. Wilson, Jr.
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May 7—Niagara Falls State Park's $46 million state-of-the-art welcome center has officially been named the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Welcome Center at Niagara Falls State Park.
The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has contributed $8 million toward the project which doesn't have an official opening date.
"With Mr. Wilson's name on the building, I am certain that visitors to this park will be interested to learn more about him and the contribution he and this foundation have made to our community," said New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid, noting the foundation's commitment to improving the quality of life for Western New Yorkers through the development of outdoor recreation opportunities and support of many cultural institutions.
The new 28,000-square-foot visitor center will include new ticketing and information desks, interpretive museum space including an immersive experience and exhibits highlighting a diversity of topics including natural, industrial and Indigenous American history; new concession spaces; restrooms and associated support spaces. Construction began in the fall of 2021 and it will open later this summer.
"It's an honor to have Ralph's name on this beautiful new world-class facility that will soon be a resource to the millions of visitors that arrive from all over the world to take in the majesty and wonder of Niagara Falls," said Mary Wilson, life trustee of the Ralph Wilson C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
The grant from the not-for-profit Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, created after the 2014 death of Wilson, the former owner of the Buffalo Bills and a co-founder of the American Football League, continues Ralph Wilson's legacy of support for tourism, parks and outdoor recreation, trail development and community revitalization in Western New York.
The grant was managed on behalf of State Parks by the Natural Heritage Trust, a non-profit, public-benefit corporation with the mission to receive and administer gifts, grants and contributions to further public programs for parks, recreation, cultural, land and water conservation and historic preservation purposes of the State of New York. For more information visit www.naturalheritagetrust.org.
