Entry No. 16 — the Buffalo file — filed under: architecture
The Turtle (former Native American Center for the Living Arts)
Two blocks from the falls sits three stories of concrete shaped like a turtle, its geodesic-dome shell topped with an eagle skylight and its head watching Rainbow Boulevard through porthole eyes. Northern Arapaho architect Dennis Sun Rhodes designed it for the Native American Center for the Living Arts, which opened in May 1981 with galleries, a 250-seat theater, a restaurant, and powwows under the dome — the form itself a reference to the Haudenosaunee creation story of the earth on a turtle's back. It closed in 1995; Niagara Falls Redevelopment bought it in 1997 and has left it vacant ever since, at one point floating demolition for a hotel. In May 2025 the National Trust named it one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, and the Friends of the Niagara Turtle — a coalition more than a thousand strong — is pushing to reopen it as a cultural center.
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The story
The building came second. The Native American Center for the Living Arts was founded in May 1970 in New York City by Tuscarora sculptor Wilmer "Duffy" Wilson, Cherokee actor Arthur Junaluska, Cahuilla writer Rupert Costo, and singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. Northern Arapaho architect Dennis Sun Rhodes gave it one: 67,000 square feet of concrete, built 1977-1981 on a $4.9 million Economic Development Administration grant and finished some $750,000 over budget.
What opened in May 1981 was the Haudenosaunee creation story at building scale - Sky Woman's turtle, three stories of it, geodesic-dome shell, eagle-shaped skylight, porthole eyes aimed at the river. Inside: a 250-seat circular theater, galleries, a restaurant, a 500-volume library, storage for thousands of Native artifacts. Bruce King directed the resident Indian Time Theater; the center published Turtle Quarterly with NEA support. It was the largest Indigenous arts center in the eastern United States, and it never found stable money: layoffs in 1989 when state subsidies ended, the power cut in May 1993 against $100,000 in unpaid bills, closure in 1995, foreclosure in April 1996.
Niagara Falls Redevelopment, the Milstein family's company, bought it in 1997 for $1 million and has kept it empty ever since, boarded up two blocks from one of the most-visited waterfalls on earth. A 2017 variance to demolish it for a 20-story hotel was refused; in March 2024 the City Council voted against landmark status. In May 2025 the National Trust named it one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, president Carol Quillen calling it "a rare example of a cross between Postmodern and Indigenous architecture." Friends of the Niagara Turtle, over a thousand members chaired by Shaun Wilson (Mohawk, Turtle Clan), wants it reopened as a cultural center.
What it's like
There is no way in, and there hasn't been since 1995 - the Turtle is boarded, fenced, and owned by a company that once applied to knock it down, so this is a sidewalk lap and nothing more. Park at a downtown meter or garage and come at it on foot from Rainbow Boulevard. Give it a minute before you judge it: the bold painted stripes that once read the form for you are gone under white, and the head, the shell, and the round eye windows only snap into focus from across the street, ideally at dusk when the streetlights catch the glass. Ten minutes is a full visit; some people circle twice. Stay on the public sidewalk - it's private property, not a ruin to explore - then walk the few blocks into Niagara Falls State Park, which is the argument for doing this at night.
The move: Fold it into a Niagara Falls night: park once downtown, walk a slow lap around the Turtle at dusk when the porthole eyes catch the streetlight, then continue the few blocks into Niagara Falls State Park for the nightly illumination of the falls. One endangered wonder, one permanent one.
📍 Before you go Exterior only — the building has been closed since 1995 and there is no interior access, so this is a sidewalk stop, best paired with the falls a short walk away. Metered street and garage parking are nearby downtown. The original painted stripes that emphasized the turtle form are gone under white paint, so look for the shape, the dome, and the eyes. Its survival is genuinely unsettled — the owner has previously proposed demolition — so see it while it's still there.
- 📍 Niagara Falls
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 25 Rainbow Blvd, Niagara Falls, NY 14303
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Rapids Theatre — A mile and a half up Main Street in the same city: a 1921 movie palace that got the expensive second act the Turtle is still waiting for.
- Frontier House (Fairbanks Restaurant) — Lewiston is about twenty minutes downriver, and dinner there happens inside an 1824 hotel - the version of the story where the old building keeps working.
- Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima — Another building that makes its whole argument with a dome, half an hour north, and instructive to see beside a dome nobody has paid to heat since 1993.
More weird in Buffalo
Good to know
Can I get inside?
No. The center closed in 1995 and the building has been vacant and boarded since; there is no interior access, no tours, and no scheduled openings. Everything worth seeing is visible from the public sidewalk at 25 Rainbow Blvd.
What does it cost, and when can I go?
Free, any hour, no gate. It sits on a street corner two blocks from Niagara Falls State Park, so most people fold it into a falls trip; downtown Niagara Falls has metered street parking and garages within an easy walk.
Why doesn't it look like the old photos?
The original scheme used bold colored stripes to emphasize the turtle form, and it's painted white now, which flattens the whole thing. Look for the dome shell, the projecting head, and the round porthole eyes rather than for a cartoon turtle.
Is it really going to be demolished?
Unsettled. NFR Turtle LLC still owns it; a 2017 variance to raze it for a 20-story hotel was denied, the City Council declined landmark protection in March 2024, and the 2025 National Trust endangered listing raised the stakes without resolving them.
Is there anything happening there?
Not on site. Friends of the Niagara Turtle, the coalition chaired by Shaun Wilson that wants the building reopened as a cultural center, is where any programming or advocacy events would be announced.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: savingplaces.org · Wikipedia · buffalorising.com
last checked: 2026-08-25