It started as a wire weaving manufacturer. It had a second and third life as an amusement park and entertainment complex.

It ends this week as a pile of rubble.

Pyramid Place, which has stood at the corner of Robinson Street and Fallsview Boulevard (formerly Buchanan Avenue) for 101 years, is being levelled to make room for a 12-storey hotel. Construction will also force the nearby IMAX Theatre to relocate soon.

The building began as Niagara Wire Weaving Co. in 1919, employing between 250 and 300 people.

"Which at one time was one of the city's largest employers," said Sherman Zavitz, the city's retired official historian.

The plant produced thin, flexible wire mesh and shipped it to paper mills across the world, but mostly to mills in eastern Canada.

The factory closed in 1974. Part of the building was demolished, said Zavitz, but a large section remained and was reborn five years later as a tourist attraction. A year later it underwent an expansion to add attractions and children's activities, called Kids Place. Amusement park rides were added to the parking lot in 1981.

It was never a financial success, however, and the facility closed in 1983. A fire the next year caused $50,000 in damage.

But Pyramid Place found new life in the mid-'90s when it transformed into an eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, tourist attractions and knickknack stores. It was the original home of the Oh Canada Eh? dinner theatre before it moved to Lundy's Lane, and briefly housed the Elvis Presley Museum after Maple Leaf Village closed.

In recent years the building has hosted the movie-themed bar Oscars, the nite club Club Se7en, the glassblowing shop Rossi Glass and arts hub the Thunder Gallery.

Thunder Gallery owner and curator Marinko Jareb said it was "sad" seeing the historic building being levelled this week.

"But I'm happy to have been given an opportunity to explore arts and culture in the former Wire Weave Building and Pyramid Place," he said. "I would have loved to see the original architecture incorporated into any future development."

The new hotel, offering 230 rooms, will be owned by Canadian Niagara Hotels, which owns a number of properties on Clifton Hill.

It marks the second historic Niagara Falls property to come down in recent weeks, following the demolition of the former Cupolo's sports store on Ferry Street.

"Obviously they've been an important part of our city's past," said Zavitz. "But in some cases, these buildings just have to go. They no longer serve a purpose.

"There's no point in keeping them, I suppose. But yes, it's sad to see them go."

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