Flight Of Five Locks Rehabilitation

The City of Lockport and the New York State Canal Corporation, assisted by the design firms of Bergmann Associates and McMullan Associates are progressing the rehabilitation of the Erie Canal Flight of Five Locks in downtown Lockport. The project will restore the five existing locks to the 1842 "Evershed" version and will create a working model of that era. Since the early 1900's the locks have been used as a waste weir or side spillway for the Barge Canal Locks 34 and 35. The locks allow the Erie Canal to transport vessels across the Niagara Escarpment, a rise of over
50 feet.

The project is currently under design and review by regulatory agencies. A demonstration construction project was performed in the summer of 2009 to evaluate the best methods to restore the stone work and historic railings. Funding for the project has been partially raised and efforts continue to raise a total of $8 to $10 million (US) for full restoration of the locks. It is hoped that further rehabilitation will be accomplished by the time of the 2010 WCC.

Check back soon or a video production of the vision for the restored locks.

Camillius

Camillus a northwest suburban town of Syracuse, New York is putting the finishing touches on the restoration of the 1841 Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct. This majestic accomplishment will be the first aqueduct from the old 19th century Erie Canal era to be restored in New York State.


Restoring wooden trunk Camillus
Aqueduct July 2009 - looking east

The aqueduct, a long term restoration project, has taken over 30 years to accomplish but is now nearing final completion. With the total support and assistance of the Town of Camillus government and propelled by the hard work and “never give up attitude” of the citizens of Camillus and volunteers from neighboring villages and towns under the leadership of Dr. David Beebe and Liz Beebe and Fenton and Joan Hanchett among others, the long awaited dream and vision has been fulfilled.


Fully restored Camillus Aqueduct
August 2009 - looking east

Here in Camillus is a unique example of how far a project can come and how much can be accomplished by a “community pride of ownership” and the nurturing of volunteers by the leadership.

Erie Canal Rewatering Downtown Rochester

A campaign for restoring the old iconic Erie Canal to city centre Rochester has been ongoing since June 2004.The plan illustrated on the map provides the essential details. The old Erie Canal bed, including an 1842 aqueduct across the Genesee River, lies in a trench beneath Broad Street from South Avenue on the east to Brown Street on the northwest. The water elevation of the 1918 Erie Canal located behind the Court Street Dam (south east portion of map) is 3 feet higher than the historic level of the water in the old canal through downtown. An ample supply of water is thereby guaranteed.




Therefore the plan is to remove Broad Street, build a round lock on the east side of today’s Erie Canal (at the lower right corner of the map) and a short new canal north from the lock to the existing old canal bed thereby joining the old canal downtown with the New York State Canal System and the world.



The vision has been spearheaded by Inland Waterways International and the Canal Society of New York State, through its ad hoc committee ADROC (Advocates for the Restoration of Rochester’s Canal—Thomas X. Grasso, Rory and Tim Zimmer, and local businessman Michael Hess), and the Genesee Community Charter School led by school leader Dr. Lisa Wing.

To further investigate this concept and the context of the surrounding area, the City of Rochester undertook a planning process to develop a master plan for the Historic Erie Canal Aqueduct and adjoining Broad Street Corridor. The plan establishes the Broad Street Corridor. The plan establishes the Broad Street Corridor as a significant public realm enhanced and defined by water; creating a new distinctive identity for the district. A new envisioning “Canal District” would recognize and incorporate the historic Erie Canal path. Through the master planning process, the preferred alternative restores the aqueduct by removing the bridge and filling the aqueduct with water, and also creates a large water basin from Plymouth Avenue west to Main Street.

Although not initially conceived as navigable and therefore animated by pleasure boats, trip boats, and other vessels within the timeframe of the master plan, the new waterway will be an energetic and active amenity which will encourage pedestrian recreation and interaction along its edges, as well as the potential for small scale water born craft such as paddle boats across the aqueduct and the westernmost basin and ice skating in winter.

This City-sponsored Master Plan is lead by Rochester-based FRA Engineering and Architecture, P.C., with design consultants Cooper-Carry of New York City.

Related Links:

http://www.broadstreetcorridor.com/home.html

Central Library of Rochester, New York - Erie Canal Historical Images