Buffalo, NY � February 2003 � Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, one of the fastest growing providers of recreational visitor services in America, is making Niagara Falls State Park even more inviting. Through a series of renovation projects currently underway, the park will become more user-friendly to the approximately 8 million multinational and regional visitors it hosts each year.

A remodeled lower level in the Orin Lehman Visitor Center and renovated Top of the Falls restaurant on Goat Island are both scheduled to open in May 2003. This is just phase one of a 20-year contract recently awarded to Delaware North by the State of New York to improve and maintain key areas of the park. More projects will be announced in the future.

�These projects demonstrate the fulfillment of the promise we made one year ago to help enhance Niagara Falls State Park (history linked here), a property that we have long considered to be among the most beautiful in our portfolio,� said Bruce W. Fears, president of Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts.

An Inviting New Visitor Center to Open
The new visitor center will house a multitude of services including general park information, multilingual maps and informational resources, a gift shop, and a variety of food services including an ice cream bar, specialty coffee shop, outdoor grill and a deli/pizzeria.

The center will feature a more contemporary design, much more open to reduce congestion and improve sight lines. The use of natural light on the lower level will also make the space much brighter and more inviting.

There will be more than 2,200 square feet of retail space, a digital mosaic of the falls and an interpretive area designated to promote destinations within the park and to highlight the rich natural history of the falls, its geology, ecology and wildlife. In total, this marks a $1.1 million investment by Delaware North Parks Services.

State Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro said, �These investments build on Governor Pataki�s unprecedented support of capital improvements to enhance Niagara Falls State Park, creating a world-class destination for the enjoyment of our millions of visitors. This is another example of a successful public-private partnership that benefits our patrons and the community.�

Remodeled Restaurant Features Awe-inspiring View
The second big change is coming to the park�s Top of the Falls restaurant located on Goat Island. Delaware North invested more than $1.2 million renovating the structure and its layout.

The new facility will tout a captivating view of the falls from its floor-to-ceiling windows and two new outdoor dining decks. The decks were designed to allow diners to get even closer to the sights and sounds of the falls while generating awareness to passersby that they are within proximity of a phenomenal dining experience. Inside, the restaurant will feature an open, California-style kitchen cooking up American and regional favorites, hot and cold entrees, and sandwiches. One of the most beautiful additions will be a flowing water wall that divides the restaurant from its lounge-style bar. The water wall functions as a wall and a gentle reminder of the awesome power of the falls.The new floor plan of the restaurant will also increase its total capacity, allowing for the catering of private parties without interrupting service to other diners.

�We�re all very excited about this, it�s going to redefine the dining experience at Niagara Falls. It will be a special memory visitors can take home with them,� Castro said.

About DNCPR
Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, a subsidiary of Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North Companies, Inc., is a leading hospitality provider with significant experience in hotel, retail, food service, recreation and transportation operations. The company�s portfolio includes some of the unique properties in North America, including Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoia and Grand Canyon national parks, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Tenaya Lodge, The Grand Hotel at Grand Canyon, Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa near Vancouver, British Columbia, Niagara Falls State Park, Jones Beach, Robert Moses and Captree state parks, Deer Creek Resort and Conference Center, Jetty Park, Roaring River Inn and Conference Center, and the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and Denver.

When DNCPR assumed the management of visitor services at Yosemite National Park in 1993, it quickly became known in the industry for its innovative environmental practices and management style. With stewardship as its mantra, the company has developed and implemented a comprehensive, award-winning environmental management program, GreenPath, which has earned registration through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for six DNPS locations. Companies worldwide have received ISO 14001 registration, but DNPS is one of the first in the hospitality industry to demonstrate its commitment to preserving precious natural resources through such a rigorous and formal process.

Today, DNCPR continues its leadership position with national and state parks, but also has expanded its presence with a greater emphasis on hospitality and entertainment. While DNPS has always managed hotels and resorts within client venues, the company became a hotel owner in its own right when it purchased Tenaya Lodge, a premier four-diamond resort in northern California, and Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa, a world-class resort near Vancouver, British Columbia. With $300 million in annual revenue, 3,700 guestrooms and 5,000 associates, DNCPR has established itself as a leading hospitality company.

About Delaware North Companies
Delaware North Companies, Inc., (dncinc.com) is one of the world�s leading hospitality and food service providers. Its family of companies includes Sportsystems, Delaware North Parks & Resorts, CA One Services, Sportservice, Delaware North Companies International, the FleetCenter and the newly acquired Delta Queen Steamboat Company. Delaware North is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States with $1.5 billion in annual revenue and 25,000 associates serving millions of customers in the United States, Canada and the Pacific Rim.

Contact:
Mary Burich
Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts
716-858-5420
mburich@dncinc.com
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Park History During the Industrial Revolution in North America, the watchword of the 1800s was �Progress!� The natural beauty of Niagara Falls started to suffer from that progress. Eager industrialists built mills and factories along the Niagara River to harness its power. Shrewd entrepreneurs bought up the land surrounding the Falls in order to control tourism dollars. By the late 1860s, a small group people concerned by this state of affairs founded the �Free Niagara� movement, which held that the natural beauty of the land surrounding the Falls should be protected from exploitation and free to the public. Members urged New York state to reclaim the Falls and the area around it. After more than 15 years of pressure, the �Free Niagara� crusaders won their battle. The Niagara appropriations bill was signed into law in 1885, creating the Niagara Reservation, now known as Niagara Falls State Park. Besides creating the oldest state park in America, the law set a precedent for the protection of the nation�s natural resources and heralded a major change in basic attitudes toward nature. The foremost leader of the �Free Niagara� movement was Frederick Law Olmsted, perhaps best known for designing New York City�s Central Park. As America�s first landscape architect, he championed natural beauty over manicured perfection in public parks. Olmsted applied his philosophy that parks should be places of natural beauty where �the masses could be renewed� in his design for Niagara Falls State Park. The park�s network of footpaths through wooded areas and along the banks of the Niagara River, reveal views of nature that awe and delight visitors. Native vegetation and wildflowers display what Olmsted described as the �exceeding loveliness of the rock foliage.� The combination of natural beauty, unparalleled vistas and public access found in Niagara Falls State Park is an enduring legacy of the man who believed that Niagara Falls belongs to all of us.

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