Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:28 am Post subject: Lock System for Boaters News Update
From Michael King: 920-729-6622, ext. 33
Quote:
APPLETON — Starting in May, the Fox River near the Appleton Yacht Club will no longer just be a cul de sac for boaters.
The completion of three bridge projects and restoration of Appleton locks Nos. 1-4 means that boaters in 2010 will have access throughout the boating season to another three to four miles of the Fox River from Lutz Park to Little Chute.
The stretch has been mostly inaccessible since the late 1980s when 14 of the 17 historic, hand-operated locks were closed.
"It will give boaters an opportunity to see and enjoy an area they haven't been able to for a long time," said boating enthusiast Bob Stark of Appleton, a former Friends of the Fox president and Fox River Navigational System Authority chairman. "It's a very scenic and serene stretch. It's a really beautiful trip through there."
In 2006-07, the four Appleton locks and the Cedars Lock in Little Chute were restored to their historic 1930s era condition through tuck-pointing, replacement of wooden gates and some masonry stone, plus refurbishing of valves and hardware.
However, their use has been limited since then, due primarily to Appleton bridge projects on Olde Oneida Street (2007), Lawe Street (2008) and College Avenue (2009).
"There's quite a bit of enthusiasm for running on that stretch," said Dave Peck of Appleton, who has already taken his 25-foot 1961 wooden cabin cruiser between Lutz Park and Little Chute twice. He did it once in 2007 before the College Avenue bridge project interrupted the navigation channel and again last Labor Day during a temporary opening of the four locks.
"It's a wonderful stretch of the river," said Peck, who expects to see some businesses emerging to take advantage of the boater traffic. "Right now it's beautiful but it's a little desolate (due to a lack of destinations)."
Stark said restoring the locks that were first built more than 150 years ago is important for a variety of reasons, including recreation, history, educational opportunities and economic development.
"This is one of only two systems of this type remaining in the country," Stark said. "It's a type of museum piece that you don't just look at but you actually use."
This summer, restoration of Kaukauna Lock No. 5, the oldest of all the locks dating back to the 1850s, will be done, thanks in part to a federal grant. The project is expected to cost about $1.1 million to $1.2 million with about $500,000 coming out of Fox River Navigational System Authority funds. Additional work will be done to stabilize and restore eight historic lock tender houses using a stimulus grant.
"This isn't something that's just for boaters," Stark said. With the restoration of lock tender houses and opening them up for other uses, "the authority has envisioned that many of these sites could become mini-state parks."
Four other Kaukauna lock restorations, at a projected cost of $6 million to $7 million, are to be restored over the next few years, leaving only the Rapide Croche lock closed.
It will remain permanently closed as a barrier to invasive species but a boater survey will soon be under way to help determine what size boat transfer station will be needed to be built there to allow passage through the entire system.
Ron Van De Hey, chairman of the Fox River Navigation System Authority, said work was purposely "scaled back" this year as the group hopes to continue growing the $14 million currently invested in three community foundations in Green Bay, the Fox Valley and Oshkosh.
"It's time to recharge the funds," Van De Hey said. "We'd hope to have them all done in five years but it's driven by the availability of funds.
"We have an obligation to grow that $14 million to $17 million by 2017," he said. That's the target to reach to create an on-going endowment fund needed to provide perpetual funding for operation and maintenance
Van De Hey said the authority is seeking to raise the final $350,000 of local matching dollars in order to access the final promised federal and state money. He hopes to have the additional funds in hand by July. "So $350,000 will get us $1.4 million," he said.
Due to the sluggish economy, Van De Hey said fundraising is "coming slow. We're hoping some big donor is out there that would perhaps push us over the top.
"It's not just about boats," he said. "It's the history. It's about the access to the river and quality of life. This river was really the birth of the Fox River Valley."
"We know we can maintain the system for 30 years through 2034 with the money we have," said Harlan Kiesow, the authority's chief executive officer. "We're restoring the system based on our financial ability."
The four Appleton locks and Cedars Lock will be operated on an abbreviated schedule this season. "Until we get some of that traffic, we can't justify operating the system on a consistent or daily basis," he said.
While the Little Chute locks have been restored, they won't be operational until 2012 under agreement with the village, which is trying to figure out what to do with the old Mill Street lift bridge.
The restored Fox locks play an important part in the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway project that is seeking designation as a national heritage parkway.
The Fox River should get more use from quiet water paddlers (kayaks and canoes) this summer as the portages at the four Appleton lock sites were completed last fall.
Plans are in the works for Fox River Heritage Voyage 2010, a series of trips along the Fox and Wisconsin rivers following the historical route from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River along the 175-mile heritage corridor being pursued.
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