Schuylkill Canal Association

Spring 2003 Newsletter

Spring is Here!
Betsy Daley, Executive Director

Something really exciting is happening all along the canal. As I sit in my office at the Locktender’s House I can see the transformation right in front of my eyes. I hear it as I walk around the grounds and notice the birds and wildlife returning. The daily increase in visitors is another signal that a change is about to happen. Spring is right around the corner. It might not seem that way with the daily threat of snow, sleet, ice or rain but as the days get longer and warmer the Schuylkill Canal Recreation Area is slowly coming back to life. Within a month’s time new growth will sprout, the fish, turtles and snakes will be coming out of their winter’s home and the whole area will be completely immersed in the splendor of spring. It has been a long winter and one all of us would like to see come to an end.

Over the past few months, the Schuylkill Canal Association has been very busy getting ready for the upcoming warmer weather. Our yearly calendar of events is full of exciting programs and by the end of this month water will be back in the canal, just in time for outdoor enthusiasts taking their boats and fishing equipment out of storage. Planning has begun for the Schuylkill River Sojourn 2003 that will come through town the week of May 31st through June 6th. SCA will be hosting the sojourners, once again, at Lock 60 on Wednesday, June 4th into June 5th. Canal Day 2003 is also in the planning stage and SCA is looking forward to all the thrilling events that are being scheduled for Sunday, June 29th, look for more info on both events on pages 6 & 7. Also, included is our 2003 Calendar of Events, be sure to take a look at it and mark all these dates on your calendar so you don’t miss anything.

Our reconstruction projects are moving ahead with great progress. The enhancements to the entrance of the Locktender’s House will resume within the next month. The severe winter weather caused the work to stop but it should begin again shortly with the promise of nicer weather. The reconstruction of a sluice gate onto the flume opening at Lock 60 has progressed irregardless of the weather. Loftus Construction, from Cinnaminson, NJ, has been on site since the middle of February and has just about finished the installation of the gate. The last item to install, the operator’s stem, will be attached to the gate in the second week of March. Once completed, water will be flowing again through the entire canal prism. This newly reconstructed water control mechanism will allow SCA to monitor and determine the amount of water needed to maintain an appropriate level in the forebay and canal.

The flume sluice gate reconstruction was basically a precursor to the Lock 60 restoration work that is scheduled to begin early this summer. After seven long years of developing the Lock 60 Restoration project, a contractor will be chosen during the construction bidding process over the next few months and will finally get the “notice to proceed” in June 2003. SCA is sitting on the edge of our chair with excitement and anticipation as this project enters into the next phase – construction implementation. Keep your eyes peeled to the local papers as this all comes about.

SCA’s other enhancement projects we have on the books will be ongoing throughout the year while Lock 60 is under construction. Two out of the three are to prepare our site for the anticipated increase of visitors who will come to experience Lock 60 as a historic resource as well as the canal area’s recreational facilities. Handicapped accessible restrooms, which will be located in our existing maintenance garage a few hundred yards from the Locktender’s House, will be constructed during the summer into the fall of this year. An interpretation plan that will involve the entire Schuylkill Canal Recreation Area is in the developmental stage.

SCA expects to have a consultant chosen by mid-April who will help coordinate this plan that will address not only the historic aspects but also the integration of our site into the community as we establish enhanced educational and outreach programs. SCA will be reaching out to our community asking for your help with that part of the process and plan. The third project deals with storm water issues that currently affect the forebay. The Forebay Tributary Improvements project has been planned to address the perennial problem of sediment deposits in the forebay during storm events. The storm water culvert and towpath, and the guard wall along the forebay embankment in the culvert area will be reconstructed. Construction on this next phase of the overall canal restoration will begin in April 2003.

There are also a number of issues that the Association must face from an organizational view point. Some of these concerns were briefly touched on in our last edition of the newsletter – the extension of the Schuylkill River Trail to our lower towpath, improved and/or alternate access to Lock 60 and board development. SCA’s strategic plan, which you can find on our website at www.schuylkillcanal.com, basically spells out all the remaining issues the Association needs to deal with over the next three years. The SCA Board of Directors has begun the next phase in the plan’s implementation process by revisiting the plan and prioritizing what action steps should be taken. Over the next six months I would like to concentrate my efforts on: canal and site infrastructure, community outreach to enhance programs and an increased membership & sponsor base that will include an appeal for board involvement. Our members are an important component in the implementation of these plans. We need your input; we need to know what you, our members and the local community, want. Take some time and read the strategic plan, if you have any thoughts or ideas, give me a call at SCA’s office number 610-917-0021; and we can talk. If you don’t have access to the internet and would like a copy stop by to pick one up or give me a call and I will send one to you through the mail. I am in the office at the Locktender’s House officially from 10 AM to 5 PM almost everyday. Just call before you come in case I am out at a meeting or off to a workshop. If you get the voice mail, please leave a message I will get back to you as soon as I can.

I think that gives you a very good picture of what is happening along the Schuylkill Canal. While putting down in words what has been happening, I have reflected upon the past 6 months on the job as the first paid executive director for SCA. It certainly has been a real challenge.

Along with all the responsibilities of the day-to-day management of the organization come all the duties of a normal office environment with the added chore of maintaining a visitors’ space. I am my own secretary, computer technician, and janitor all wrapped up in one. There have been some growing pains that are typical when going through a transitional period like this. Not all that I set out to do in the first six months has been completed; files still need to be set up and the office is still in the process of being moved from the third to second floor at the Locktender’s House. And, there have been days when it was just too cold to be in the house even with the wood stoves and space heater running constantly. These are just minor details. What is important is the steady transformation of SCA from a volunteer to a paid-staff organization. This process has had a very positive affect on the overall management and day-to-day operations of the Association. I expect the growing pains to lessen as each day goes by and the warmer weather arrives. Hello spring!