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Niagara Parks Commission chairwoman Janice Thomson and general manager Fay Booker vote in favor of Cochrane request for funding
by John Robbins and Peter Conradi/Bullet News
The Tourism Partnership of Niagara is giving serious consideration to a request to spend $180,000 to help cover the cost of bringing famed aerialist Jay Cochrane back to Niagara Falls this year for a summer of performances, walking a thin cable stretched between the Hilton hotel and the Skylon Tower.
On Monday, members of the agency's board of directors voted unanimously to give further study and consideration to the request for funding, which also enjoys support from Niagara Falls Tourism and the Fallsview Business Improvement Area association.
Among those who supported Monday's decision were Niagara Parks Chairwoman Janice Thomson, who sits on TPN's board as a representative of tourism interests in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Fay Booker, NPC's general manager. Both Thomson and Booker have been cold to the idea of a separate proposal by wirewalker Nik Wallenda, who is hoping to cross the Niagara Gorge between Canada and the United States near the Horseshoe Falls on a three-inch cable sometime this year.
Wallenda asked for and was refused permission for such a walk from the NPC board late last year. He's supposed to get another crack at convincing the NPC to approve his plan, following a meeting last Friday with Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan.