Construction began in 1961, and was reportedly the first using of the slipform construction method in North America. One minor fire occurred on the roof on September 2, 1961, due to spillage of hot-mix concrete igniting a tarp and causing several propane tanks to explode. Damage was minimal, estimated at "a few thousand dollars", and nine people suffered minor injuries battling the blaze.

The tower opened in 1962, is located in the Fallsview district of Niagara Falls, Ontario and was the first of the modern observation towers built near the brink of the Falls.

The Konica Minolta Tower Center was originally called the Seagram Tower, named after the House of Seagram business in Montreal. Over the years, due to multiple bankruptcies and ownership changes, tower names changed between Heritage Tower (1969), Royal Inn Tower (1971), Royal Center Tower (1972), Panasonic Tower (1973), and Minolta Tower (1984-2007). It features an indoor observation deck, restaurant, wedding chapel, and hotel. From street level, the tower is 99 meters (325 feet) tall, however it is situated 160 meters (525 feet) above the falls.

A recent boom in large hotel construction has diminished the tower's prominence as a landmark. All of these hotels strive to give their guests as good a view of the falls as possible by taking advantage of their position of the height on land above the falls, once dominated solely by the Konica Minolta Tower. In contrast, the airspace around the Skylon tower remains fairly open, thanks to its position further back from the Niagara River.

Ironically, when the tower and surrounding area was first designed prior to groundbreaking on March 15, 1961, it was to be the centerpiece of a proposed hotel/convention center. Due to finances, the accompanying hotel buildings were not built, and it would be over forty years before hotels began to rise adjacent to the tower.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the surrounding land was occupied by an aquarium to the north, and the Waltzing Waters attraction to the south. The Waltzing Waters site was moved across the street in 1995 to allow for site planning of the current Marriott hotel. The Waltzing Waters, a light and water show synchronized to music, disappeared altogether by 2000. The aquarium was dismantled in 1996 to allow for further site expansion.