Le Marineland du Canada était un parc de loisirs situé à Niagara Falls en Ontario, au Canada. Le site, connu pour sa proximité avec les chutes du Niagara et d'autres parcs naturels, était composé d'un parc d'attractions, d'un parc zoologique et d'un oceanarium. Il a fonctionné de 1961 à 2024.
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Marineland is a closed themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada that operated from 1961 until 2024.
It was founded and operated by John Holer, a Slovenian immigrant, from 1961 until his death in 2018. He started with one tank and built the operation into a major attraction and employer. The park had performing marine animal shows, exhibits of marine and land animals, and amusement rides. The marine mammals included dolphins, sea lions, and beluga whales. Until 2023, the park also kept walruses and orcas. The park also kept bears, deer and other land animals. After Holer's death, it was operated by his widow until her death in 2024, under public pressure to discontinue its marine exhibits. In 2024, it discontinued public viewing of its land animals.
The park's keeping of marine mammals is controversial, and the park has been involved in several lawsuits related to the practice. The keeping of the sea mammals is opposed by animal rights activists, and Marineland has been the site of numerous animal rights demonstrations. The Canadian government passed a law to ban the practice of keeping belugas, while allowing Marineland to keep its current animals. Marineland transferred some of its marine mammals to aquariums in Spain and the United States. Animal rights organizations have volunteered to assist in the relocation of its remaining marine mammals.
In 2024, Marineland operated on a reduced scale while being slated for redevelopment. No amusement rides operated and only a few water exhibits were open. The park later announced in 2025 that the amusement rides at the park would be sold off.
In 2025, Marineland sub-divided its property, mortgaging its undeveloped lands under a financing plan, and announced it would move its remaining animals, while it searches for new ownership. The park sought export permits to transfer its belugas to facilities in China, but the request was denied and Marineland requested financial assistance from the federal government to feed and care for the whales saying otherwise it would need to euthanize them.
On January 26, 2026, Joanne Thompson, the federal minister of fisheries and oceans gave "conditional approval" to Marineland to export its remaining 30 belugas and 4 dolphins to several institutions in the United States. Before final approval is given, Marineland will need to provide a complete travel plan and confirm precisely which animals are going to which facilities as well as receive confirmation from accredited veterinarians that each animal is safe to be transported. Marineland had stated that if the government had denied the request for export permits it would proceed with a secondary plan to euthanize the animals.
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Dufferin Islands are a group of artificial islands located 0.8 km from the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Before being renamed by the Niagara Parks Commission, they were known as Clarke Hill Islands and Cynthia Islands. The islands are decorated annually for the Winter Festival of Lights.
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Oak Hall is a 37-room, three-story Tudor-style stone mansion that was built in the late 1920s for mining tycoon Harry Oakes. It is located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, approximately 1/4 mile southwest of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.
In 1959, Oak Hall was bought by the Niagara Parks Commission and opened to the public in 1964. The estate's original 9-hole golf course was turned into a public course in 1966. The mansion has housed the offices of the Niagara Parks Commission since 1982, and several historic rooms are still open for public viewing.
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The Toronto Power Generating Station is a former generating station located along the Niagara River in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, slightly upstream from the newer Rankine Generating Station. Completed in 1906 in the Beaux-Arts-style, the station was designed by architect E. J. Lennox and was built by the Electrical Development Company of Ontario under supervision of Hugh L. Cooper to supply hydro-electric power to nearby Toronto, Ontario.
The plant is built on top of a deep wheel pit, with turbines at the bottom of the pit, turning generators at the top by means of long vertical shafts. The water from the turbines runs out through a brick-lined tailrace which eventually comes out at the base of the falls. In its prime, it had a generating capacity of 137,500 horsepower.
The plant ceased operations on February 15, 1974, as Ontario Hydro looked to make better use of the available water downriver at the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations in Queenston. In addition, the plant produced electricity at a frequency of 25 Hertz, now largely unused. The vacant plant was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1983, due to its importance in the development of business, industry and technology in Ontario, its status as the first wholly Canadian-owned hydro-electric facility at Niagara Falls, and the unusual application of Beaux-Arts design to an industrial plant.
Ownership of the Toronto Power Generating Station was transferred to the Niagara Parks Commission in 2007. Structural assessments were subsequently undertaken in order to consider future adaptive reuse options for the facility. In its current empty state, the plant has been the subject of urban exploration activities.
As a result of a 2021 procurement process, the commission announced in 2024 a partnership with venue management company Pearle Hospitality and condo developer Society Developments to develop the station into a luxury hotel. Under the station will remain in the hands of Niagara Parks with Pearle Hospitality as a tenant, with developers will provide the $200 million investment. The opening of the new hotel is scheduled for 2027.
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Dragon Mountain was a steel roller coaster located at Marineland of Canada near Niagara Falls, Ontario. Built by Arrow Huss, it opened to the public on July 16, 1983. At its opening, it claimed to have the longest ride time of 3 minutes and 30 seconds and the longest track length of 5,500 feet, though both of these statistics were exceeded by The Beast four years earlier.
Dragon Mountain reaches a maximum elevation of 186 feet, which is considered the total difference in height experienced throughout the course of the ride, as the roller coaster's support structure follows closely to the terrain. The ride covers 30 acres of land and claimed to be the "world's largest" roller coaster on that basis; however, The Beast at Kings Island opened four years earlier and travels across 36 acres of land, meaning that Dragon Mountain never actually held that record.
Upon the opening in the early 80s, the ride was missing the proposed volcano facade around the helix, and the miniature waterfalls built around the stretch of track after exiting the first tunnel. These unthemed parts of the ride had nothing but the framework, which was constructed along with the track. In 2006, Marineland decided to complete the volcano to improve the ride's appearance.