St. Catharines museum offers hands-on look at building the Welland Canal

The St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canals Centre is called that for a reason. It is, in fact, located at Lock 3 of the Welland Canal and includes the Welland Canal Viewing Platform.

To that end, they are offering a couple of looks at what was involved in building the fourth Welland Canal, which is the one used to this day.

On July 18 (and again on August 15) at 6;30 p.m., the museum will be presenting “Along The Canal Bank,” an immersive program on the story of the workers of the Welland Ship Canal.

In this program, set in the Summer of 1919, a costumed museum interpreter will be turning audience members into new recruits of the Welland Canal Field Hospital.

“In this onsite training, you will hear about the workforce and the challenges they faced building the Welland Ship Canal. A visit to the Welland Ship Canal Fallen Workers Memorial is included,” the museum says.

The Fourth Welland Canal began construction in 1913 and was completed in 1932 with a delay due to World War I (1914-1918) taking away vital manpower and materials.

The Fourth Canal is equipped with just eight locks compared to the 40 locks needed by the First Welland Canal.