Earlier today, I learned that Canalside Live 2020 was canceled at the waterfront, which was inevitable. The news got me to thinking about the waterfront this summer. Typically, we would be preparing for all of the good news to come, from development projects to the arrival of popular concert series. Now that just about everything is on hold, what sort of waterfront inspiration could we look forward to, until things get back on track?
One of the latest waterfront developments to come to pass at Canalside is the building of the 1825 Erie Canal “Seneca Chief” Packet Boat, a herculean effort that gained a ton of speed in 2019. But, like everything else, there is relatively little action on that front.
For those of us that await any of news along the Inner Harbor, the Buffalo Maritime Center (BMC) invites everyone to virtually tune into a discussion with Dr. John Montague, one of the leading proponents behind the BMC’s flagship Packet Boat initiative.
The Buffalo Maritime Center has partnered with the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse to broadcast Montague’s talk, which will entail enlightening details on the design and construction of the replica craft.
“In my presentation I will outline briefly how the idea of building the ‘Seneca Chief’ Packet Boat came about, and discuss future uses of the boat as both a community asset for Buffalo and an educational outreach to New York’s canal towns. I will also discuss how, as a not-for-profit, we have been able to fund the project through public and private partnerships.”
Here’s how you can watch and participate:
- At 10am on Thursday (May 7th), visit the Erie Canal Museum’s Facebook page
- Once there, you can start watching the presentation at 10am (but you won’t see the video until 10am)
- If you would like a reminder about the talk, please visit the event page HERE and click “Interested”
- The presentation will also be aired live on BMC’s Facebook page
- Viewers will be able to comment and ask questions at the end of the talk
Everyone is welcome to come aboard, to experience the Packet Boat LIVE this Thursday, May 7th at 10am.