Bus terminal would take place of John’s Flaming Hearth

One of the Niagara region’s landmark restaurants is slated to be bulldozed to make way for a new bus terminal.

A Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority committee approved plans Thursday to pay $1.3 million for 3.1 acres at 1965 Military Road in the Town of Niagara, the site of John’s Flaming Hearth.

Details on the immediate future of John’s Flaming Hearth were unclear Thursday night. A representative from the restaurant did not return calls.

The site was chosen after research commissioned by the authority showed riders’ greatest transportation needs were in that vicinity, according to NFTA spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer.

Town of Niagara Supervisor Steven Richards was not pleased to hear the news.

“The NFTA will probably find a lot of opposition from the neighbors who back up to that facility,” he said. “The NFTA, along with the air base, they’re just taking too much of our taxable land away from us, and the residents will be paying for this dearly in the future.”

Once the new terminal opens, near the intersection of Niagara Falls Boulevard, bus riders can look forward to shorter travel times and fewer transfers, Hartmayer said.

A vote of the entire NFTA board of commissioners will take place Monday, but the purchase is expected to pass.

An environmental review is required before the plans become final. Federal approval is also needed, a process that could take six months. Following the approval, construction could last between 10 and 12 months.

“It will serve the surrounding areas much better,” said NFTA Commissioner Henry Sloma.

Sloma praised the location, citing its proximity to the Outlets at Niagara Falls and the planned site of the new Super Wal-Mart.

A bus route that will serve Military Road north to Mount St. Mary’s Hospital is also slated to begin next year.

A smaller bus hub at Portage Road and Chilton Avenue, near Tops Markets, is expected to remain open.

The Portage Road location, which opened in March, replaced a temporary hub on Rainbow Boulevard in the city’s South End. The temporary location was set up after the old permanent location was knocked down to make way for the parking ramp at the Seneca Niagara Casino on Niagara Street.

Plans to construct another, smaller bus terminal, this one in downtown Niagara Falls, continue, Hartmayer said.

The NFTA is working with USA Niagara Development Corp. on locating a tourist transit hub in the Niagara Experience Center.

USA Niagara is working to secure funding for the project.

Niagara Gazette:It will be good for the future super walmart,outlet mall.

Take away a land mark.But if its good for walmart,what the heck,must be good