At midnight on June 9 the lock at Upper St. Anthony Falls will close permanently to shipping traffic. Blame the invasive carp.
An
act of Congress last year directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
stop allowing tugs and barges to use the lock no later than June 10.
It’s a defensive measure against the invasive species that has been
working its way up the nation’s river systems. The fish, which could
crowd out native fish, has already been found as far upriver as
Hastings.
The Corps will keep the facility functioning
but only for flood control, something that's been required for just six
times in its nearly 60-year life, most recently last June. Once the
final vessels have passed through sometime that evening, the upper gates
will be closed. During the following two weeks, a set of massive steel
bulkheads will be lowered in slots just upstream to protect the gates.
The lower gates will be left open and the water level inside the lock
will remain at the level of the river below the falls.
It’s
currently in the hands of the engineers. But after the lock is closed
to navigation, others will begin to let loose their imaginations to
envision what the 1960s era facility might become.
Regional
and federal park planners have long been thinking about the river and
the riverfront from downriver of St. Paul to upriver from Minneapolis.
It is part of the larger Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
run by the National Parks Service. It is also contained within the St.
Anthony Falls Regional Park Master Plan by the Minneapolis Park &
Recreation Board.
Employing a narrower focus, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation is working to realize its Water Works Vision
in the area around the lock - from the 3rd Avenue Bridge to Portland.
But because the lock and dam were not then in line for closure, the
plans either make passing reference to the structures or don’t mention
them.
That could change, said foundation executive
director Tom Evers, once the federal government decides what the future
of the locks will be. The first phase of Water Works will be in the
upland area nearest the 3rd Avenue S. Bridge. The second phase will
involve the area closer to the river including the gatehouse that allow
river flows into the complexes that used its force to power flour mills.
“We
anticipate in that time period we’ll have a more-clear vision of what’s
happening with the site,” Evers said. “We do hope to see the lock and
dam as part of the story that will be told.”
Also
keeping an eye on the lock is the park board, which discussed but
decided against asking the state Legislature next year for money to
begin planning a different future for the lock complex. Board President
Liz Wielinkski said she thought it was premature and that taking an
incomplete proposal to lawmakers could endanger other park priorities,
such as developing property at Hall’s Island near the Plymouth Avenue
Bridge and the Upper Harbor Terminal remediation.
“We can’t keep adding a million things to our list,” she said.
One
commissioner who was ready to include the lock idea in the bonding
request was John Erwin. He said the park board and other partners such
as the Corps and the National Park Service have a chance to do something
dramatic with the property.
“My hope is it would be
transferred to the National Park Service and then we could have use of
it,” Erwin said. What kind of use? Erwin sees the building adjacent to
the lock as a visitor center with a view restaurant that would overlook
falls that he envisions being lit at night.
“At night
with the Stone Arch Bridge lit up and the falls lit up, it would be a
pretty dramatic place to go,” Erwin said. “I think you’d see a lot of
public support for a restaurant.” He even thinks the lock itself could
be used for a whitewater park.
Evers said a view
restaurant would complement what Water Works planners want for a new
Pavilion Building near the 3rd Avenue Bridge. That building would house
restrooms, vendors who would rent watercraft and bikes, as well as a
cafe and viewing areas.
Those who want to repurpose the
lock and the attached building have a kindred spirit in Col. Dan
Koprowski, commander of the St. Paul District of the Corps of Engineers.
Koprowski said the Corps plans to hire a part-time employee who will
continue to conduct tours of the facility by appointment. The nine
workers now employed there will be dispersed to other locks on the
river.
On the short term it must be prepared to reopen
the lock should Congress change its mind. It ordered the lock closed,
not deauthorized so it must be kept in working order with gates being
tested each month. The lock system was authorized by Congress in 1937.
The Lower Falls Lock opened in 1956 and the Upper Lock followed in 1963.
Once the lock is secured by the bulkheads, he would
like to see a study conducted on its future. Such a study was authorized
as long back as 1970 but not funded.
In the meantime,
the Corps has been talking with regional national park officials to
discuss the lock’s future. Should Congress deauthorize the lock, its
future could involve either the Corps retaining ownership or it being
passed to some other entity. Either way the flood control aspect must be
maintained.
“What I hope to see is beneficial use of
the site,” Koprowski said Wednesday from the top story of the control
building, which has quite a spectacular view of the crest of the falls.
“We are too valuable of a location, it’s too much of a resource for
people who live in this community to just let it sit here and do
nothing. Whatever it is, I hope we can work with other stakeholders and
concerned parties to find a way to make use of this facility.”
And
what vessel will have the honor of being the last one through the lock?
Koprowski said he has been told by commercial tug and barge operators
that they won’t risk waiting until Tuesday for fear that a breakdown
would strand expensive equipment upriver. That leaves the privilege to a
group of paddlers who Koprowski has heard are planning a late Tuesday
passage.
