Massena Town Board briefed on new Eisenhower Lock Visitor Center
Sep. 23—MASSENA — The associate administrator for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation updated the Massena Town Board on the status of construction on the new Eisenhower Lock Visitor Center.
Jeffrey W. Scharf, who joined the GLS in 2012 and assumed the associate administrator role on June 5, said work is on track to complete the center this year, with its opening scheduled for the spring.
Eisenhower Lock, which is normally open from Memorial Day weekend in May to Labor Day weekend in September, was closed to visitors this year because of the ongoing construction. The north overlook parking lot, however, remains available for visitors to view ships.
Scharf said the center has been a popular visitor destination over the years. It has served as a major tourist attraction for north country residents and tourists visiting the region since 1961, two years after the Seaway opened.
"For those of you who may remember the old visitor center, I hear a lot of good stories, how people used to enjoy food and ice cream and souvenirs," he said. "A lot of great stories over the years and many of you probably know what it was like just a few years ago. It's basically a shell of itself, pretty much just an observation deck. But, believe it or not, we were still tracking 50,000 to 60,000 visitors a year just during the summer season."
But, then COVID "interrupted that a bit," he said.
Scharf said the old visitor center was torn down late last year to make way for construction on the new center.
"So, we obviously don't have the observation deck this summer," he said. "We had some public releases about that going into the season."
He said the new visitor center is now almost complete. It's located west of the former center, is taller, and has more square footage inside and green space outside.
"Some of you in the room saw it partially under construction not too long ago," Scharf said. "There will be a walking area, picnic tables, some exhibits outside that you can enjoy and read, as well."
The idea behind the new visitor center, he said, is to "resurrect some of the old spirit."
"Of course, we're anticipating more traffic. Obviously we want to get back to our pre-COVID levels," he said. "We want it to be an anchor of tourism destination. We think it will be. There are very few places in the U.S. where somebody can see a cargo ship go through. So, that was really important to us during the design phase, to make sure we have those elevations where you can look down into the lock, in addition to just the exhibits that are being developed."
He said the center was in line with the nearby Nicandri Nature Center and the New York Power Authority's Hawkins Point Visitors Center. In fact, Scharf said, the designer of the Nicandri Nature Center's exhibits is also the designer for the two levels of exhibits at the new visitor center.
"Even in the old visitor center, even on the display side, I don't think it was that extensive," Scharf said.
Two viewing areas will be inside, and one will be outside. The center will also offer creative and informative displays, including a section created by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, as well as space for public meetings, a gift shop and a concession.
"As far as the exhibits go, the goal is to discover the Seaway story," he said. "We have 37-ish exhibits for all ages designed and planned. Several of them are interactive, so that should be interesting for some of our younger visitors. The goal again is to learn more about the Seaway system. What does the Seaway mean to us? What does it mean to the region? Why is the Seaway there?"
Scharf said the visitor center is on track to be completed in December.
"Of course, like anything else we're anticipating it will probably be a little bit longer," he said. "But, the planned public opening will be next April. So we're getting very close."
He said, once opened, they're currently looking at being possibly open on a 10-month schedule, "maybe a little longer, 10 to 11 months."
