SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – Three new outdoor display cases were dedicated Thursday at the Soo Locks, bringing restored displays back to the Canal Park area after years of deterioration. The displays help the public understand more about the locks and what the Army Corps of Engineers does.
Back in 2020, US Army Corps of Engineers Chief Park Ranger Michelle Briggs noticed that the outdoor displays in the Soo Locks Canal Park were weathered and falling apart. Briggs, who has been the Chief Park Ranger for 17 years, takes pride in how the park around the Soo Locks looks as well as the Visitor Center, so she and others looked at pathways to replace the display cases and restore the contents inside them.
Historic models more than 100 years old have been restored and installed in the new Soo Locks Plaza.
Thursday, six years later, Briggs held a special ceremony to officially dedicate the three new displays in the Soo Locks Plaza.
The displays were too big to even be considered for placement inside the Visitor Center, where there are already numerous displays.
“We took the historic models that were already out here in their damaged cases, we had them professionally conserved and restored, and then we had new cases built for them so that they would be weathertight and would be better protected. We don’t have room for these models inside the Visitor Center, and it just seems like a natural thing to return them where they have always been. And this gives us an opportunity to connect with the public and help them understand more about the locks and what the Army Corps of Engineers does here. It’s a really nice addition to have here,” Briggs said. The entire project cost just under $200,000.
“This was a partnership project, and the community, through a number of donors and a crowdfunding campaign, contributed over $100,000 towards this project. The Corps of Engineers at our local office here contributed labor, and some of the funding, and then we got SEED money from headquarters, US Army Corps of Engineers, $25,000 to kickstart the project,” Briggs added.
Soo Leader
