A 19th-century postcard image of Lock 1 in Albany.
Provided by the authors
This concept for a rebuilt Lock 1 and marina was prepared as part of a CHA Consulting study commissioned by the Albany Waterway group.
Provided by Albany Waterway
“Make no little plans; they have no magic. … Make big plans; aim high in hope and work.”
Daniel Hudson Burnham delivered this exhortation to British architects in London in 1910 — 85 years after New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton descended Lock 1 in Albany, entered the Hudson River aboard the Seneca Chief, and completed the inaugural transit of the Erie Canal.
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While Burnham spoke, New York was busy constructing what would become the Barge Canal, replacing earlier iterations of the canal and rendering Albany’s original gateway obsolete. Completed in 1918, the state’s “new” canal no longer included a Lock 1.
Since then, northbound vessels have left the Hudson River’s tidal waters via the “Federal Lock” at Troy. Rather than stopping in Albany, travelers begin their journeys in Waterford by entering the Erie Canal at … Lock 2.
Nearly every structure essential to Erie Canal navigation has been replaced by a “modern” equivalent. The “new” system is now over a century old — and a National Historic Landmark in its own right.
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But not Albany’s lock. Not Erie Canal Lock 1. The Erie Canal’s gateway to the west is still lies beneath an unassuming plot of land in the shadow of off-ramps and the Central Warehouse, waiting to be rediscovered.
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New York’s capital city is rich in history and culture. Its museums, architecture and entertainment venues make it a city worth visiting, working in and calling home. Yet its greatest natural asset — water, the very catalyst for vitality and economic development in cities everywhere — has been largely overlooked in many of the city’s revitalization efforts.
Advocates for Albany’s redevelopment, including the grassroots Albany Waterway group, have extolled the benefits of reconnecting downtown Albany with its waterway heritage and the Hudson River.
Albany Waterway has long praised the virtue of reopening Erie Canal Lock 1. Restoring the Erie Canal’s historic gateway is just the kind of transformative project Albany needs to reconnect with its maritime heritage and further stimulate its heritage tourism successes.
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Demolition of the Central Warehouse — combined with investments in downtown and a reimagining of Interstate 787 — represents a generational opportunity to pursue this transformational idea.
The recently released “Downtown Albany Strategy” — a blueprint for investment and redevelopment launched by Gov. Kathy Hochul — describes “gateways where downtown’s energy … connect the core, neighborhoods, and waterfront” and suggests such gateways “mix and concentrate jobs, housing, and culture so more people share in Downtown’s growth.”
The Downtown Albany Strategy’s design concepts include an uncovered Lock 1 and the re-creation of a navigable boat basin.
In her introduction to the plan, Hochul wrote: “We must now translate ideas into action, and this roadmap will guide New York’s historic investment in transformative projects that help Albany, finally, realize its full potential.” Make no little plans, indeed.
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A river link centered on a restored Lock 1 would be a fitting counterpart to Buffalo’s highly successful revitalized Canalside district. It would also reinforce waterfront investments in canal communities across the state and further distinguish the Canalway Corridor as a world-class destination.
As Chris Churchill noted in this paper in February, “As the Central Warehouse is demolished, the marina makes too much sense not to happen.”
After all, would anyone suggest that if a working Lock 1, marina basin and public space occupied that area today, residents would be pining to replace it with asphalt and an overpass?
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Let’s embrace the opportunity for waterborne travelers to do what boaters did for nearly a century: Enter Lock 1, Albany.
Bob Radliff is the executive director of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in Waterford (www.eriecanalway.org). Jean Mackay is the deputy director.