10k enjoy up close look at the famous Soo Locks (70 Photos)

Despite gas prices pushing record highs, thousands of visitors descended on the famous Soo Locks for the 28th annual Engineers Day offered by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

For just one day a year, the agency opens the gates to let visitors stroll across the MacArthur Lock to a grassy common between the Mac and the Poe Lock.

“It been busier than we thought it would be,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District Public Affairs Specialist Carrie Fox said. “We were anticipating between 8 and 10,000 people. It looks like attendance will be on the high side.”

Fox said the locks employ about 140 people, 90 of whom were on duty in red shirts to answer questions and steer visitors. The remaining 50 or so were running or
supporting operations at the locks for regular ship traffic.

“We started Engineers Day in 1975, to mark two bicentennial anniversaries," Fox said. “The US Army’s birthday is June 14, 1775, followed by the Army Corps of Engineers on June 16. Over the years we have settled on the last Friday of every June to mark the birthdays and welcome an up-close look at the locks.”

This year’s observance was the first full-fledged open house since 2019.

One of the four Great Lakes freighters that locked through during the day was the Lee Tregurtha. The Lee has one of the most storied histories of today’s Lake boats.

It was built in the 1940s as an oil tanker for World War II. After the war, it was used to haul iron ore and coal. The ship still sports military campaign ribbons from the Atlantic and Pacific theatres of war, when it hauled fuel for not only warships, but combat aircraft as well.

Two visitors standing on the Lee lock side had a personal message for one crew member. Sault Ste. Marie resident Becky Barclay and Andrew Constance of Lansing formed a self-described “Peter Groh Fan Club” in honor of the boat’s wheelsman.

Barclay held a homemade sign above scores of visitors as the Tregurtha eased into the Poe Lock: “Groh, Groh, Groh Your Boat!” 

Groh made an appearance outside the Lee’s pilot house to acknowledge his proverbial 15 minutes of fame as several hundred onlookers broke into applause. Groh, Barclay, and Constance created a friendship over the years as lake freighter enthusiasts, better known as Boatnerds.

“We’ll see if he remains a friend or even a Boatnerd after this,” said Barclay. “He seemed to take it well.”

Other boat watchers enjoyed $1 round trips through the MacArthur lock on two boats owned by the Soo Locks Boat Tours. Lynette Eding and her nine-year-old son, Nathan, waved from shore as the tour boat Hiawatha cruised downbound out of the lock.

“This is our first Engineers Day,” said Lynette, who graduated from Lake Superior State University in the 1990s and now works as an engineer in Holland, Mich. “I never got to one as a student, so I figured it would be a perfect time to see the locks up close with my son.”

The Corp’s Carrie Fox thanked tourists who made the trek to the Sault, as well as the city and other agencies who pitched in to make it a banner day.

“The city closed Portage Avenue for vendors, the Coast Guard had an open house and demos, city hall hosted a craft fair, and LSSU showed off its new Center for Freshwater Research and Education,” said Fox. “Linda Hoath of the Sault Area Convention and Visitors Bureau deserves a big shout out for helping us organize and pull this off.”

Next year’s Engineers Day is June 30.