Ontario observation tower may actually be inspired by peanut butter cups

While Toronto's C.N. Tower may be one of the most famous needle-and-pod-shaped observation towers in Ontario, it certainly isn't the province's only one.

Niagara Region residents will point to the Skylon Tower, which, while nowhere near the gargantuan height of its famous sibling 67 km away, can indeed go toe-to-toe with its incredible views.

But the story behind this tower's distinctive yet familiar shape may come from its biggest champion — a member of one of the most famous peanut butter cup purveyors in the world.

Spreading out the history

Charles Richard Reese may have been born in America's chocolate haven of Hershey, Pennsylvania, but the last son of the creator of the peanut butter cup, H. B. Reese, spent much of his young adult life commuting over the Rainbow Bridge into Niagara Falls, Ontario

That's because his roommate at the Babson Institute in the Wellesley Hills section of metropolitan Boston, Michael Sainovich, was a Niagara native. Sainovich spent much of his time boasting about the "beauties and potential of his home area."

The two often spent time talking about their potential dreams and ambitions, which included a chain of motels that might one day extend across the continent and, of course, a tower and trade center.

A crunchy start

Reese and Sainovich were soon joined by classmates William Hosler, James Kiley, and Charles Schmoyer in envisioning what they saw as the "International Global Center."

But as the project grew in scope, so did their doubts about the execution. In August 1962, Mr. Hosler brought in William Pigott of Pigott Construction Co. in Hamilton, ON, to "carry the ball." It was then that the trio of friends who joined the project withdrew, sowing their initial seeds of doubt into the minds of Reese and Pigott.

But the project pressed on, and the pair reached out to various developers and manufacturers for what was then named the "Niagara International Center."

A smooth finish

Officially breaking ground on May 21, 1964, the project, today known as the Skyloin Tower, was finally starting to become a reality. The tower was built using slipforming, a method that involved concrete being poured into forms that are raised hydraulically in increments.

This same method would be used to build the CN Tower in Toronto roughly a decade later.

The architectural design of the tower came from the architectural firm Bregman and Hamann (now B+H Architects), who drew inspiration from the then-new Space Needle in Seattle, WA.

There is also an anecdotal claim that the tower's observation deck was modelled to look like a peanut butter cup. The claim has not been substantiated by any hard evidence, but it has been elevated to local lore status over the decades.

After a year of construction and a gala party at the Sheraton-Brock Hotel, the Skylon Tower was opened late in the 1965 tourist season.

The Skylon Tower today

There are some sad elements to this story, one major one being that Michael Sainovich, the Niagaran who helped spark this idea, died in July 1957 after undergoing a second lung operation, which means he never got to see this tower come to fruition.

An interview with Reese on December 7, 1965, just a few months after the tower's opening, remarked that he saw the Skylon Tower "as a prime factor in furthering the area's year-around appeal."

View of Fallsview Casino and the Horseshoe Falls from the Skylon Tower. Photo by Jack Landau.

A little over a decade after it officially opened, the Canadian Pacific Hotels (CPH), which initially operated the tower restaurants and lounges, bought the tower from Reese and his partners on October 1, 1975, for an estimated $11 million.

The Skylon Tower is still open today, with a revolving dining room and observation deck offering some of the best views of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls, and the Bridal Veil Falls.

Outdoor observation deck at the Skylon Tower. Photo by Jack Landau.

Sadly, one item notably absent from their dessert menu is peanut butter cups.