Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) It’s a bittersweet day for C&O Canal Superintendent Kevin Brandt.
“Frankly, it’s not like it was 20 years ago when it was really crowded out here,” he says as he surveys the scene on a beautiful fall afternoon in Georgetown. “The way the canal has been in recent years has been a disappointment to me as a Superintendent and to the millions of people who visit the canal here in Georgetown.”
Exhibit A, sitting behind Brandt, is the rotted out Georgetown boat, which used to ferry schoolkids and tourists up and down the canal on a historical tour for nearly 30 years. The boat was taken out of service in 2011 and has been sitting on jersey barriers in the canal since then.
“Although she will soon be dismantled, she has provided experiences that will last for a lifetime,” he says.
The Georgetown’s final voyage down the canal, pulled by mules Dolly and Eva, is a necessary step as NPS embarks on a renovation and reconstruction of two historic locks on the canal that were built almost 200 years ago and last saw major work during the Great Depression.
“The work on locks three and four is necessary to ensure the safety of our visitors, the actual canal masonry structure itself, and the surrounding properties,” Brandt says.
Beyond that, it’s important to see the locks revitalized so the city and the world can see an important piece of history, he says.
“We talk about I-95 or 270 and the parkways, and all the communication that buzzes around on the internet,” Brandt says. “Well, the canal was all of that in its day.”
The 186-year-old canal, stretching to western Maryland, was first envisioned by George Washington as a tool to bring in materials from the interior to help build the new nation’s capital.
“We want to immerse children, and their parents, and the citizens of the world in the history of this neighborhood, in the history of building the nation’s capital and bringing the coal and the wood from the interior,” Georgetown Business Improvement District president Joe Sternleib tells the crowd.
Sternlieb is leading the charge for the next phase of the canal’s rebirth, into what he calls an “activation” – redesigned paths and plazas, better lighting, and plans for a new museum, children’s center, and recreational activities like canoeing, kayaking, and ice skating. They are still in the planning and fundraising phase.
In the meantime, a new boat will be delivered in time for spring 2018 once the lock construction is complete, resuming educational rides up and down the canal.
“There’s intrinsic value in being able to preserve our national heritage,” Brandt says. “You can’t really put an accurate value on the future if you don’t understand where we’ve come from as a country, the hard work that it took to create the country that we have today.”
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Steve Burns)
