SCOW Tour Boat Project In 

Operation On Erie Canal

Excursions for the Little Falls-Utica-Marcy Area 

     A scheduled sightseeing tour boat service has been started on the Erie Canal in the Western Mohawk Valley at Little Falls by the State Council on Waterways, a private nonprofit canal promotion group. The cruises are offered each weekend through mid-October, and it is the first time scheduled service has been offered to the public at Little Falls. Special Fall Foliage excursions are also planned for October. 

     SCOW is operating the service using their ERIE CANAL BOAT, a 42 passenger former US Coast Guard buoy tender that was recently inspected and licensed to carry passengers for hire. It becomes one of only a few tour boats on the canal system, and the only one operating locally between Central New York and Troy. 

     "SCOW's mission is to promote the canal system, and we decided to do so by providing public access to the waterway in a very beautiful but underutilized section," said Kent Barwick, chairman of the organization, which was chartered in 1986. "The Canal Place Development Association has long considered a tour boat to be the missing piece of their remarkably successful effort to revitalize the former mill section of Little Falls." 

     The offering of public tours will complement and continue the school program carried out over the past three years by the Herkimer BOCES district, which used the former SCHOOL BOAT for fourth grade field trips teaching Erie Canal curriculum. 

     John L. Stoothoff, District Superintendent of Herkimer BOCES, said "This is the best of both worlds. We get to do what we do best, which is to teach children. This new partnership with the State Council on Waterways will allow us to grow from taking more than 3,000 children on the Erie Canal to dream of taking 20,000." 

     Robert A. Brooks, Director of the New York State Canal Corporation, said "I'm pleased to wish SCOW every success as the ERIE CANAL BOAT sets a course for the future. The addition of this vessel in the Little Falls area is sure to complement ongoing improvements along the canal, with $167 million dedicated to the Canal System by Governor Pataki in the last seven years. The Inaugural cruise comes as we begin construction of a new $1.5 million Harbor Project in Little Falls. SCOW's continued dedication to New York's waterways, coupled with Governor Pataki's vision for this national treasure, is bound to yield a bright future for the Canals of New York State." 

     Local Sightseeing trips will operate from Benton's Landing in Canal Place (South Ann Street) in Little Falls for the remaining weekends in September and at least the first weekend in October. The hour long cruises will depart and 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday. 

     There will be additional 11:00 AM trips on the schedule for October 5th and 6th. 

     The cost of the hour-long canal cruises is $6 for adults, $4 for children, and $5 for seniors. 

     For directions to Little Falls, e-mail canaltimes@aol.com, or call (518) 437-2341 for additional information.