Perinton-Fairport Post                                  June 27, 2002

What's right, wrong with canal?

A look back at the 10 years since New York canals changed management shows many accomplishments, and many needs.

by Benjamin Wachs
Messenger Post Staff

       A variety of canal users and government officials spoke their mind last week about what has gone right and what has yet to be done with the Erie Canal.

     They shared their views at a public forum commemorating the 10th anniversary of the new administration of New York's canal system.

     The forum was sponsored by the State Council on Waterways, a private, not-for-profit advocacy group dedicated to revitalizing, preserving and promoting state waterways. This was one of six canal-related forums that SCOW has sponsored across New York during the past year.

     In 1992, the state legislature transferred the canal system from the state Department of Transportation, which had run the system in one form or another since 1825, to the New York State Thruway Authority.

     SCOW President Thomas Ryan was with the DOT during the 1980's, and emphasized at the forum that the change needed to be made.

     "The canal had been used primarily for recreation for a long time, and the government never made the switch," Ryan said. "We were always waiting for the next barge to come through, and it wasn't coming." Putting the canal system under the Thruway Authority, which created the New York State Canal Corporation, allowed that change to take place.

     Canal Corporation Director Bob Brooks said that it made an enormous difference, both culturally and financially.

     "It created a cultural change," Brooks said. "It had still been a commercial waterway, and was resistant to change. But the transfer enabled us to get a fresh start to sell the program across the state."

     In addition, more than 167 million dollars "in hard cash" had been invested in the canal since the change, for upkeep, marketing and promotions -- which Brooks said was the biggest difference of all.

     "We've come a long ways," he said. "The days of discussion about closing the canal are long gone. We've built grass-roots support from the ground up."

     More is yet to come. Brooks said that the next five-year plan for the canal from the governor's office involves spending more than 50 million on the canal, and that the corporation intends to make the canal trail the longest continuous recreational trail in the United States.

     But, not everyone who spoke was so upbeat. Several marina owners along the canal, including Judy Dean, co-owner of the Schuylerville Yacht Basin, said that not enough support was given to the owners of businesses that are the very first thing that a tourist visiting the canal is likely to see.

     "I always say that we are more you than you are," said dean, referring to canal business owners. "We are the front line in bringing people to the canal, and we're not getting enough support."

     In particular, Dean objected to the way in which many municipalities are offering free docking and services that duplicate the ones existing marinas offer for a fee, and said that more marketing efforts were needed to being people to the canal.

     Indeed, while there was a general agreement that the infrastructure of the canals is in much better shape now than it had been 10 years ago, there was also a wide consensus that more, and better, marketing efforts were needed to make the canal a major attraction.

     "It's very important that we reach the youth across the United States and Canada," said Fairport Mayor Clark King. "That's the marketing we used to do."

     But, despite some complaints, the sense of progress was palpable. Ted Curtis, the founder of Corn Hill Navigation in Rochester, recalled how prior to the Thruway taking over, "European visitors would ask 'Can I take a ride on the Erie Canal?' and the answer was 'No, you can't," because there weren't enough boats or facilities.

     That has changed. But Curtis had one request: "What do we want for the canal? We want more."