By Tony Ricciuto Niagara Falls Review Posted 13 hours ago
Double your pleasure, double your fun, double your skywalkers.
That's what Prince of the Air, Canadian Jay Cochrane, is proposing. A double skywalk over Niagara Falls, on a wire stretched from Canada to the United States, that would feature himself and American tightrope walker Nik Wallenda.
Cochrane suggests that performance over the Horseshoe Falls could take place on the July 1 Canadian holiday or the U.S. holiday on July 4. He is also proposing to do a number of walks during the summer between the Skylon Tower and the Hilton Hotel Fallsview.
Earlier this month, Cochrane sent a letter to Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati and council outlining a few of his ideas for possible consideration.
"My performance history in your city is well established. The many years of my performances between the Fallsview Casino Resort and the Hilton Fallsview towers to the Skylon are well known," Cochrane wrote.
He also points out each of his skywalk performances are dedicated to the Tender Wishes Foundation. Over the past seven years, he has raised more than $150,000 for that cause.
Coun. Wayne Thomson said Cochrane has tried for years to get permission to walk over the Horseshoe Falls, but was denied. So, it was a little upsetting when Wallenda came in with his recent proposal to cross the falls.
"He (Cochrane) would like to come here next summer, walk all summer from the Hilton to the Skylon Tower and then culminate with a walk across the Falls," Thomson said. "As his final and retiring walk, he would be happy to walk across the river to Wallenda, hand him his balancing pole and have him walk back as a world-class event."
While he supports Wallenda's effort to do his walk, Thomson said that request will probably end up being turned down by the Niagara Parks Commission. But he wants to make sure Cochrane is included if permission is ever granted because he has done a lot for the city.
Cochrane said his team is experienced with "the technical feasibility of rigging over the Horseshoe Falls." He said setting up a performance wire between the Canadian side and the American side "is practical and straightforward" and they have done it many times involving long and high "over-water spans across similar conditions in both America and China."
Cochrane suggests that following the performance over Niagara Falls in July, he would announce his "farewell performance" that would take place in September over the Labour Day weekend.
Cochrane said he has been perfecting his craft for the past 35 or 40 years, and at this stage of his career it's no longer about personal fame or having to prove anything.
"You have to look at the total impact this event would have on the community," he said in a telephone interview. "It needs to be an event that the world will look forward to and that people are not put in danger. It can be something that everyone will be able to watch and enjoy it and talk to their grand kids about even 75 years from now."
And what's even more important, he adds, is that any money raised can go to help children in the community.
"When all is said and done and I'm gone, the man upstairs is going to ask me if I did the right thing. That's the only question that is going to matter in life. Were you kind and thoughtful to your fellow human being and did you do the right thing."
Diodati said he raised the idea with Wallenda about including Cochrane in the event. Diodati says Wallenda is open to that suggestion.
"He has a lot of respect for Jay," said Diodati.
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