One step at a time: Aquarium project is part of plan to add Niagara Falls attractions in phases

For years, Niagara Falls pinned its hopes for a silver bullet to revitalize the downtown area adjacent to its famous cataract.

But recently, the state has taken a much simpler approach.

Build a new welcome center. Improve viewing areas. Show people where to park.

And now, it is investing in the Aquarium of Niagara. Not as another silver bullet – not trying to create a sprawling showstopper like the Baltimore Aquarium in Maryland or the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California – but in manageable phases, improving on what Niagara Falls already has, providing more amenities for families and making room for rotating exhibits that will bring visitors back.

“We welcome around 200,000 visitors annually, and there will absolutely be an opportunity for increased visitation with the expansion,” said Christine Stephans, a spokesperson for the Aquarium of Niagara. “Every time we open a new exhibit or expansion we see a 5% to 8% increase in annual visitation, which is consistent with what we see at arts and cultural organizations nationwide.”

It’s a formula that has worked before – perhaps most notably in downtown Buffalo at Canalside. Rather than pinning its hopes on a silver bullet like Bass Pro Shops, plans in Buffalo started small. Grass on the waterfront. Adirondack chairs. Walkways. It took the project one small parcel at a time – the Commercial Slip, the reflecting pools – paving the way for private investment and anchoring it all with the Explore & More Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Children’s Museum.

For decades, city officials have been trying to figure out how to get Niagara Falls visitors to stay just one more day, spending their time and money with local attractions, eating at its restaurants and staying at its hotels.

Now the state believes it has found that formula, in the same chunk-by-chunk approach, helped along by public land acquisitions – investing in the park…