Feds give $7.4M to fix historic Powerhouse at Sault Canal

Sault MP Terry Sheehan announced $7.4 million in federal government funding for the Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site on Thursday as part of an ongoing effort to revitalize the site’s historic buildings.

The funding announced Thursday goes specifically toward structurally stabilizing the site’s historic Powerhouse. Work at the Powerhouse began in late Dec. 2023 and is expected to continue for approximately two years.

Phase one of the Powerhouse project began in 2019 with $6.3 million in federal funding to begin removing some existing infrastructure to explore and understand water infiltration issues at the building and to assess next steps to remediate the historic structure. 

With Thursday’s announcement, the federal government has spent approximately $13.8 million on revitalizing the Powerhouse.

The sandstone Powerhouse, built in 1894, is home to the first electrically powered lock in the world. The Powerhouse building was a major technological achievement and helped connect the Great Lakes during the late-19th century.

“We’ve known for a few years that this work needed to be done and the first phase of the project allowed us to investigate some of what needed to happen. We’ve been preparing a long time for this to go to Phase 2,” said Brendan Hodgson, the site’s technical services coordinator speaking to SooToday.

Work crews are making good progress, Hodgson said.

“The end goal for us is to have visitors be able to enter the building, explore it and appreciate it for its historic significance to the site,” said Megan Miller, Parks Canada spokesperson.

“It is the reason for our designation as an historic site, being the very first electrically operated lock in the world. We purchase our electricity now but the power was generated from the power house here until the 1940s so it is significant to the history of not only Sault Ste. Marie but of Canada. It’s something that we’re really proud of and we’re excited to move forward in the next phases and have people explore the building again and see what it’s all about,” Miller said.

Since 2015, federal funding has gone to other major improvements at the Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site. 

Those improvements include the restoration of the site’s Stores building, repairs to the Superintendent’s Residence, the design and repaving of the site’s entry road and the creation and opening of a new Visitor Centre and exhibit space.

“I remember back in the day when I was on City Council I used to get calls because the Sault Canal was in need of repair because of its age and the environment and in fact some of these areas were shut down for a few years because of safety reasons,” Sault MP Sheehan said at Thursday's funding announcement.

“I’ve been here a few times over the last eight years and I can tell you that I am so pleased with what the park’s staff has done with their work, with their vision, collaborating with the local Indigenous communities as well as the local business community.”

“People have been really excited,” said Carly Wetzl, Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site manager.

“We’ve been able to utilize infrastructure funding to repair a lot of things on site including our road and many of our buildings to really enhance the visitor experience. Our visitation was above pre-COVID levels this past season. We did really well. Lots of people were excited to see our new exhibit space and our new Visitor Centre and I know they had lots of questions about the Powerhouse so I know when visitors come back this summer season they'll be excited to see that work is underway and in the future they will be able to explore that building as well,” Wetzl said.

Meanwhile, work will continue on addressing deficiencies in a portion of the canal itself.

As reported earlier, a portion of the canal was temporarily "unwatered" in late 2023 as crews conducted an inspection of the system.  

“We’re confident there shouldn't be any issues with the next operational season for the vessels coming through the lock,” Wetzl said Thursday.