They're counting stones at the canal.
After a media conference and tour was held in April, Parks Canada and local contracting crews have worked throughout the spring, summer and fall to repair and restore the Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site’s stores building.
When the job is done, the building will be reopened to the public and will serve as home to a new, permanent Visitor Centre and exhibit space for the historic site, said Kristy McKay, Parks Canada public relations and communications officer.
“The building will be the hub that will allow the flow of visitors through the site once all the restorations are done,” McKay told SooToday.
It’s a massive project, which includes the restoration of the 121-year-old building’s south wall.
Over the years, the stores building’s foundation shifted (for safety reasons, the building was closed in 2010).
Each individual stone from the south wall’s red sandstone surface will first be carefully removed, catalogued and safely stored while the building’s foundation is repaired.
Once repaired, each red sandstone piece of the south wall will be put back in place.
That work was well underway when SooToday visited the site Thursday.
“Since April a lot of work has been completed that needed a lot of research, skill and time…this is not a run-of-the-mill job, it’s very meticulous,” said Barry Guzzo, Parks Canada technical services coordinator.
1,146 stones have been catalogued from the south wall, as well as some stones from small portions of the east and west walls.
A small number of those original stones have to be replaced, but no worries, Guzzo told SooToday.
Excavation work near the building uncovered chunks of local, red sandstone which can be used to replace those stones.
“We sorted out the dirt from the rock, now we have a stockpile, and we’re using that stockpile to replace the old stock,” Guzzo said.
A considerable amount of work still needs to be done to the building’s interior.
It is hoped the stores building project will be done by July, 2017.
“East and south doors will lead from the lower courtyard into the main level of the building, while west and south doors will lead into the second floor from the upper courtyard via catwalk,” Guzzo explained.
Repairs to the Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site’s superintendent's residence, and full restoration of the site's powerhouse, are still to come.
A repaving of the site's entry road has already been done.
It is anticipated all the repairs and improvements to the site will be done by 2020.
All repairs, restorations and revamping of the stores building, superintendent's residence, the site's powerhouse and entry road come from $12.3 million in funding announced by the federal government in 2015.