Our five-year-old Satellite Club of the Rotary Club of Kenmore (Rotary of the Tonawandas) has been working with the Niagara River Greenway, the Historical Society of the Tonawandas, NYS Canal Corp, Buffalo Maritime Center, Erie County, and NRG's Adopt-A-Trail partners, to revitalize the only unfilled section of the Erie Canal between Tonawanda Creek and Lake Erie.This section is in the Town of Tonawanda, just south of the Grand Island bridge.
It received recognition in 2000 by the historical societies in the Tonawandas and is a direct amenity of the Empire State Trail/Shoreline Trail along the Niagara River.
The site is overgrown and has limited visibility, so in anticipation of the Erie Canal's 200th Anniversary Bicentennial – 200th Anniversary - in 2025, and in conjunction with the World Canals Conference being held in Buffalo September 21-25, 2025, we are working on revealing this historic nugget. Our anticipated project will include overcoming the invasive species that have encroached the roughly 100' x 150' site, improving connectivity and
accessibility, landscaping with native plants, interpretive signage and public art that helps reflect life on the canal as it may have been in the early 1800's.
The photos in (read more...) show the concepts of the plan.
Our club is writing grants and fundraising for the project which will include as much sustainable work as possible. The NRG-Rotary partnership includes 9 clubs in the watershed, including Kenmore, Lockport, NOTL, Buffalo, Buffalo Sunrise, Buffalo BNMC, Grand Island, and Niagara County. We hope to spotlight this historic site for the 2025 anniversary celebration. We hope this project is something our District and region can enjoy and be proud of for future generations.
