Lockport resident Jennifer Touchine is gearing up to take a frigid plunge in support of local efforts to revive a turtle-shaped building in downtown Niagara Falls.
Touchine will participate in Sunday’s Olcott Polar Bear Swim, an annual event that encourages participants to plunge into the icy waters of Lake Ontario to raise funds for charity.
Funds raised by Touchine during the event will support “Friends of the Niagara Turtle,” a local group that wants to protect and restore the former Native American Center for the Living Arts, a turtle-shaped building located on Rainbow Boulevard in the Falls.
Touchine said she thought about taking the plunge last year and decided now was the time. She admits to being nervous about the chilly experience and has been checking weather reports to get a sense of just how cold it might be on Sunday. Forecasts are predicting a “very cold” day with a high of 18 degrees.
“Thinking about the freezing water it kind of scares me,” she said. “I just kept thinking about it and thought one of these days I wanted to try it. I noticed they were letting non-profit organizations sign up and thought it was a great fundraising opportunity. I’ve been wanting to do it so I figured why not?”
What’s she expecting when she actually gets into the water?
“I know it’s going to be probably below zero,” she said. “That’s what I’m expecting. I’m nervous, but I’m strong and I have a pretty strong willpower and if I commit myself to do something, I’ll do it.”
Designed by Northern Arapaho architect Dennis Sun Rhodes to represent a creation story of Earth being created on the back of a sea turtle, the turtle building in the Falls opened as a center for Native American culture and arts in 1981. The building ceased operating as a center in 1995 and has been closed to the public for roughly three decades.
The Western New York group, Preservation Buffalo Niagara, has led an effort to have the building placed on the National Register of Historic Places due to what members consider the building’s historic, cultural and architectural significance. Touchine and other advocates for protecting and restoring the building have rallied around the effort as part of a local “Reawaken The Turtle” campaign. The preservation effort has so far met resistance from the building’s current owners, the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment.
Touchine, a member of the Najavo Nation who moved to Niagara County from Arizona two years ago, first found out about the building in a chance encounter with some members of the “Reawaken The Turtle” group at last year’s Erie County Fair. She has actively supported the preservation effort ever since. She believes the building is worth saving due to its unique design and its ties to Native American culture. She also thinks a renovated turtle building would offer tremendous benefits for downtown tourism and the local economy.
“There’s a huge community that would like to see this building reopened, native and non-native,” she said. “This is a very unique building. There’s nothing like it.”
The Olcott Polar Bear Swim held the first weekend in March, has been a tradition in Niagara County for decades. The swim raises funds for various non-profit organizations, including Old Fort Niagara and the Niagara County Sheriffs Foundation.
“Reawaken the Turtle” and other participating organizations are eligible to receive 50% of the net amount raised during the event, with the other 50% supporting various organizations in need throughout Western New York. The funds are managed by the WNY Lions — New York USA through Olcott Lions Club who have managed the swim since 1969.
To support the polar bear swim, visit: https://buff.ly/4hXwZRb.
More information on efforts to preserve and reawaken the turtle building can be found on the Friends of the Niagara Turtle Facebook page.
