Hello!

Thank you for tuning in to Forum 360 with its global outlook and local view.

I'm Ardith Keck.

We all love the national park and of course the towpath trail along the canal.

So we'll learn more about the canal and the towpath as we speak to the president and CEO of the Ohio and Erie Canalway Coalition, Dan Rice.

The National Park probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for the canal.

Dan, please tell us about the Ohio and Erie Canal.

- Absolutely.

Well, thank you so much for having me here this morning.

I really appreciate the opportunity to talk with you.

And so the Ohio and Erie Canal was built in the 1800s.

If you think about it, prior to the development of the Ohio and Erie Canal, farmers out here in Ohio, you know, had a hard time getting their products to market.

And also, if you were living out here in Ohio, you couldn't get things like, you know, fine furniture or fine china, because by the time it went up and down the Appalachian Mountains, it was basically fine powder by the time it got to Ohio.

And so when the canals were built in the 1800s, it literally transformed Ohio from a rural, isolated frontier settlement to the third most populous state in the nation.

And so the Ohio and Erie Canal, construction started in 1825, completed in 1832.

It was completed on time and on budget.

And literally, like I said, transformed Ohio.

And it really thrived until about, I would say about the 1850s or 60s, because by that time you had the railroads come along and they really replaced the canals because they could run year round, they could run much faster.

And they'd linger till about the early 1900s, when there was a terrible flood that struck the entire state of Ohio in 1913.

But then in the 1960s, a gentleman by the name of Congressman Ralph Regula had this idea of saving the canals.

And so we owe a debt of gratitude to Congressman Ralph Regula for his vision back in the 1960s to save, you know, the Ohio and Erie Canal which has now become The Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Area, and we have Cuyahoga Valley National Parks.

We have all these great amenities, really, because of Congressman Ralph Regula and his wife, Mary.

- Who built the canal?

- The canals were originally built by German and Irish workers.

And, to me, that's the thing that is so amazing Ardith, is that you can go out there and look at sections of the canal today.

You and I can go out there and walk.

And for many sections of the canal, the canal still there has water in it and Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the locks that were built using stone that was quarried here locally and the timber still there in many cases.

And so something that was built by hand, you know, 200 years ago because the canal, the construction started in 1825.

So this year is the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

- And when the canal was built, there was a towpath.

Why?

- So, the way the canal boats were powered, they didn't have a motor.

So they basically had a rope that was tied to either mules or horses.

And mules or horses basically pulled the canal boats.

Didn't go very fast, maybe 5 to 7mph in the area in which the horses and mules walked was called the towpath.

And it was basically a hard packed surface along the banks of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

And that's how the canal boats were pulled.

- How long is the canal?

- It's about 303 miles.

Well, the Ohio and Erie Canal is actually 303 miles from Cleveland, down to Portsmouth on the Ohio River.

And then you had the Miami and Erie Canal that ran from Toledo to Cincinnati.

And there were other numerous connector canals like the Sandy Beaver Canal, the Hocking Canal, Ohio had over 1,000 miles of canal lands in the state of Ohio at one time.

- Is the canal still visible along its entirety?

- I would say probably 60% of it at least there's some remnants that are out there.

And if you can't see the actual canal, you can actually kind of see where the ditch is, the prism.

And oftentimes there’s trees lining it.

Many years ago, I actually, my wife and I and our daughter, we actually drove from Akron, all the way down to Portsmouth, and you could see different remnants of the canal, through the different counties as it goes, you know, from Cleveland to Portsmouth.

And I've also actually been to the last lock on the Ohio and Erie Canal as it enters the Ohio River, it's actually in the middle of cornfield today.

- What is the importance of the Cuyahoga River to the canal?

- Well, the Ohio and Erie Canal would not exist if it were not for all these waterways.

And that's why the route of the Ohio and Erie Canal fall natural waterways.

So, you know, Akron is the highest point on the Ohio and Erie Canal between Cleveland and the Ohio River to the south.

And so the engineers who built the Ohio and Erie Canal, one of which is Captain Richard Howe, whose home we restored in downtown Akron, he was responsible for building the canal, engineering the canal and identifying reliable water sources.

And so the Cuyahoga River and the Little Cuyahoga River served as water sources for the Ohio and Erie Canal.

And so there's a definitely a very close relationship between those two waterways.

And also, that's why the Ohio and Erie Canal came through Akron.

Because you had Summit Lake, which was a very high body of water at the summit, the highest point.

The Portage Lakes also provided water for the Ohio and Erie Canal.

And then once you get south, you know, of Akron, you know, the Tuscarora River provides the water source for the Ohio and Erie Canal.

And all those waters south of Akron go down to the Ohio River and then out to the Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico.

- How long is the reconstructed towpath?

- So we are working on a section of the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail from Cleveland to New Philadelphia, Ohio.

And we're really proud to say that today as we speak, 90 of the 101 miles, and that's what we're working on is 101 miles are already completed.

So you can literally, we can go out there today and hop on the Towpath Trail and walk all the way to downtown Cleveland, or we can go south and walk all the way down to Zoarville.

And then tomorrow we have a really exciting announcement on September 9th in which we are going to be doing a ribbon cutting for an additional two miles of the Towpath Trail down in from, basically, Zoarville to the Dover Dam.

And so that will bring our total mileage completed of 92 miles of the 101 miles.

And then the remaining nine miles are in planning and development down in Tuscarawas County.

- Oh, wow.

Okay.

And so you mentioned up to Cleveland.

So does it go all the way to north to Lake Erie?

- It does.

The northern terminus of the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail is Canal Basin Park, and it's right in the flats area.

And that’s actually where the Ohio and Erie Canal entered Lake Erie.

And then obviously boats would ship goods over to Buffalo or might have shipped them over to Detroit.

And then there are connector trails that actually go out to Wendy Island, so all the way to Lake Erie.

So you're absolutely correct.

It is already connected in Cleveland and Collier County.

Summit County was the first county to complete the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail from county line to county line.

Stark County was second.

Cuyahoga County was third.

And then Tuscarawas County is going to complete this vision that Congressman Ralph Regula and John Seiberling had.

- So, we have the plans and everything's in place.

After that, can I go further south?

- Well, that’s a really good question, Ardith.

There are, in addition to the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail, which when I explain it to folks I talk about, I think of, like, the trunk of a tree.

And so the Towpath Trail is like the trunk of a tree.

We're also working on branches to the tree, you know, connector trails like the Freedom Trail, the Rubber City Heritage Trail here in Summit County.

The Hike and Bike Trail is a connector trail as well.

And we are very blessed and fortunate that the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail is a northeastern leg of what they call the Ohio to Erie Trail.

So believe it or not, Ardith, there is a trail that is pretty much so 75-80% already put in place where you can walk or ride your bicycle from Cleveland, Columbus to Cincinnati.

And that’s again about a 300 mile plus experience, 325 miles, I believe.

And so we are the northeastern leg of the Ohio and Erie Trail.

And then our goal would be once we get down to Tuscarawas County, if we can go over to the east and get over to Wheeling through Harrison County, and then ultimately if you get to Wheeling, you can get to Pittsburgh.

Once you get to Pittsburgh, there is a trail called the Great Allegheny Passage Trail that goes from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC, and that's another about a 350 mile trail.

So we are really kind of in the center of a number of regional trail connections and that's why completing the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail is so important.

- And we have a drawing here or a rendering of something that's happening right now.

- You are absolutely correct and we are really blessed and fortunate to be able to work with our neighborhood residents and the city of Akron on a project we've been working on for really the past ten years called Akron Civic Commons.

And this is a project working with neighborhood residents, working with the city of Akron to help create accessible, equitable and welcoming parks, trails and public spaces.

And Akron is one of about ten different cities across the country working on these type of projects.

And so the focus of our project is literally three miles of the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail from downtown Akron through Ohio and Erie Canal Park neighborhood, going south to Summit Lake.

It's a three mile section.

And the rendering that we have here behind me is a rendering of a proposed development of the Summit Lake North Shore Park.

And so many people may think of the Summit Lake North Shore.

It's right by the Interstate Highway system, Interstate 76 and 77, and it's right adjacent to the Summit Lake Community Center.

And there's a baseball field there as well.

And so by talking with neighborhood residents, we ask them what they would like to see in a neighborhood park, because in many ways, Summit Lake is, we've we kind of turned our back on Summit Lake, if you will.

When the canal came through, Captain Richard Howe developed Summit Lake to make it so that the canal could come through.

And that was wonderful.

So he engineered the the canal through Summit Lake.

And then after the canal went out of business, it was an amusement park.

And it was primarily he was a part, you know, for one group of people because it was segregated unfortunately.

And then industry basically pumped water out of the lake to power their industry, but they pumped the dirty water back into the lake.

- Oh, no.

I'm going to interrupt you for a minute here because we're halfway through.

I'm talking today with the Ohio and Erie Canal Way coalition president and CEO, Dan Rice.

And so we're working on concentrating on the Ohio and the Erie Canal.

Go ahead.

Sorry.

- No, you're perfectly fine.

And so, in many ways, we've kind of turned our back on Summit Lake, turned our back on the neighborhood.

And so this is an opportunity to write a new chapter.

Because when we first started talking with neighborhood residents and visitors, you know, they were afraid of the water.

They were afraid of the lake.

And with good reason, because, you know, historically, it had been polluted.

Some people were afraid that their skin might peel if they put their hand in the water.

They thought the fish maybe were impacted.

And what we know is that any of the pollution that has happened to Summit Lake, it's down in the sediment.

And so the water quality is actually perfectly fine.

We did a study in 2018 that basically said that the water quality in Summit Lake is just as good as the Portage Lakes, just as good as Lake Erie, any lake in the state of Ohio.

And we know this, kind of the animals have told us this because there are blue heron, osprey, kingfisher.

There are people who fish at Summit Lake who say, you know, don't talk about it because it's my favorite fishing hole.

And so we know that really nature has really restored the lake.

And so we want to be a part of that story.

And so we asked our neighborhood residents what they would like to see.

They said they wanted to get access to the waterfront.

They wanted to have waterfront, you know, side seating.

They want to have benches, you know, fire pits.

And they wanted to maybe have a fishing pier.

So what you see in this rendering is, you see the Ohio and Erie Canal off to the east, you see a beautiful bridge connecting a walking and hiking bicycling bridge to connect into the Summit Lake North Shore Park.

You see a dedicated canoe and kayak launch so that people can bring their canoes and kayaks and do kayaking and canoeing and paddleboarding in Summit Lake.

There's even a building there called a canoe and kayak share, because not everybody can afford to rent a canoe or kayak.

And we learned this from our partners in Philadelphia that many people have canoes and kayaks, but they don't have a place to store them.

Well, we’ll provide free storage, but if a neighborhood resident wants to borrow a canoe or kayak, they're able to do that.

So that really speaks to equity in public spaces.

We also have a dedicated boat launch ramp.

So that way people want to actually put their boat in at Summit Lake, they have a separate boat launch ramp specifically for that purpose.

There's a beautiful pavilion that you see here for the community.

That faces the community.

I'm sorry, faces the lake.

And that will have picnic tables in there, they’ll have restrooms.

A beautiful view of Summit Lake, where people can have their wedding receptions or birthday parties, retirement parties.

You see the swings there right along the walkway.

Another picnic shelter.

And, so I just want to emphasize everything that you see in this picture has been developed because neighborhood residents wanted to have this.

- Cool.

- Because for years, they didn't have these type of amenities in their neighborhood.

And so we really believe in the power of a resident led process.

And, we're really excited that, you know, this has come to fruition, really through the incredible generosity of the city of Akron.

They contribute a significant amount of funds.

The Knight Foundation, the GAR Foundation, Summit County government, many, many individuals.

We are just incredibly blessed and fortunate to have the support of all of these partners helping to make this into fruition.

- And I'm sure the residents of Summit Lake are thrilled.

- They absolutely are.

- Yeah.

- And because for many years, you know, when we first started this project Ardith, there was only one bench at Summit Lake and didn't even face the lake.

And it was really sad because what does that say about how we care about the people, but also how we care about the lake?

And when we talk to the neighborhood residents, we ask them, what would you like to see?

You know, their response is, we just want a place to sit and talk and have a grill.

You know, cook, you know, a picnic or a cookout.

And so we tested a whole lot of ideas.

And what we learned is when you design things with people in mind and really design it to what the residents like to see, they'll use it and they'll take care of it.

They'll be great stewards of it.

We also do a summer youth employment program down at Summit Lake, because what we found was that people having all these picnic and everything, you know, there needs to be a place to— We need to empty the trash cans.

We put in new landscaping so we have youth who are basically 14 to 18 years old helping us, you know, steward the space.

You know, they're helping doing mulching and weeding and painting tables.

- Cool.

- And it gives these kids an opportunity to learn a new skill, but also, you know, create pride in their community.

- That is wonderful.

That's far above what you would expect a Canal Way Coalition to do.

And the towpath around Akron has been under construction for quite a while.

Is it now finished?

- It is, it is, it is completed.

There are times actually where the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail will have to be closed either maybe on the weekends.

I'm sorry, not on the weekends, on the weekdays.

Because there's... The location of the Towpath Trails is in closed location to the Cuyahoga River.

And sometimes the Cuyahoga River tends to erode away the banks of the Towpath Trail.

And so it requires some repairs and maintenance on ongoing basis.

But, the Towpath Trail is completely developed and constructed, but there are periodic periods where there might be some repairs that are needed.

- And are there plans for the future of the national park that will affect you?

- I'm not aware of any proposed plans that would affect us.

They're looking for ways to continually improve the park.

And, you know, make some possible additions.

But I'm not aware of any potential concerns.

I know one of the park partners, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad which is also one of our partners as well.

One of their main projects they're working on, is they're looking actually to develop an extension to the city of Cleveland and get to downtown Cleveland.

So, that's I think, something they've been working on for many years.

It's something in the future definitely, but that definitely is a major initiative.

- Okay.

But that wouldn't really affect your canal here?

- It would not affect the canal, but it would also be a great amenity because a lot of people utilize the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad to access the Towpath Trail.

And so what they'll do is they'll, the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has a program called, Bike Aboard, in which you can ride so far on the Towpath Trail, and then stop at one of the train stations and then pick up the train and ride back to your car.

So they're a fantastic partner in the Ohio and Erie Canal Way and the Towpath Trail.

- That's a neat part.

You can put your your bike aboard the train, and there you are.

- You're absolutely correct.

- Yeah.

Well, in this rendering, we have the trail coming off of the Summit Lake area into the Summit Lake.

What happens?

- Well, the trail that comes off the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail, it is a loop trail that goes all the way around Summit Lake it's about 2.2 miles.

And it really is a wonderful trail connection because it basically connects the west side of Summit Lake with the east side of Summit Lake.

And already, we've seen neighborhood residents out there walking their dogs, pushing a baby stroller, running, bicycling, and enjoying the beauty of Summit Lake and that's really, you know, was a high priority because we heard that from neighborhood residents.

They did not want to go down just one side of the lake, they wanted to go all the way around the lake.

And so we were actually able to get that section trail open early in 20, let's see, it was a 2022 actually, we actually opened the Ohio and Erie Canal Summit Lake Trail.

It is actually detoured right now.

People can actually access that beautiful bridge over the Ohio and Erie Canal today, but they cannot actually go into the construction site, but we have a temporary detour that goes up along South Street that does provide that connection all the way around Summit Lake.

- And when the trail actually hits Summit Lake, the boats would take, go through and the towpath is there?

- Yes.

That's correct.

There is enough clearance underneath that bridge so that canoes and kayaks and paddle boards and even some small motor boats can actually go underneath the Ohio Erie Canal Summit Lake Trail Bridge.

Absolutely.

- Okay.

And when it goes through Akron, the towpath trail and leaves Mustill Store.

Now, some people I'm sure listening watching this show would not know where Mustill Store is, but it's part of the downtown Akron area.

Where does it go then?

- So you're absolutely correct, Ardith, the Mustill Store is a canal era store.

It's a very historic building managed by the Cascade Locks Park Association, Scott Reed, a very good friend there.

He manages that.

And it's a great a trailhead where people can actually start their adventure on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

They have a very small museum there and historically, that's actually where people when they were riding the canal boats, they would get off the canal boats, they would and maybe grab a meal.

At one time you could actually sleep.

They had lodging there during the canal era back in the 1840s and 50s.

But then when you go north from the Mustill Store, you basically go into Summit Metroparks.

They basically manage the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Towpath Trail as it goes north until it meets Cuyahoga Valley National Park once you get north of the Merriman Valley.

- How about south through Akron?

- So south through Akron, that’s actually when you're climbing the height.

It's about, I would say at least 400ft of height that you're actually coming out of the valley.

- How does a canal go through climbing?

- Well, it doesn’t now because basically the canal is in a culvert.

It goes underneath the Akron inner belt and underneath downtown Akron, and it comes out actually underneath the Civic Theater.

That's actually where Lock 4 is located and then, of course, Lock 3 Park, which is another major park investment that we just recently opened last November in the heart of downtown Akron.

But the Ohio and Erie Canal is in a culvert.

It still runs through downtown Akron and then comes out by the Mustill Store.

- It uses locks to to get up the hill.

- When the canal was in operation, it absolutely did.

There were a series of locks and so, Lock 1 north is located right at Exchange Street, right across from the Richard Howe House.

And there are a series of 44 locks going north.

- 44.

- 44.

Because of the the high summit to negotiate.

And so, Lock 1 north is right there in Exchange Street.

And then you'll hit about Lock 18 within about a mile of the Richard Howe House in downtown Akron.

You won't hit Lock 18 south until you're about 75 miles south of Akron.

So that's how much the topography changes, it's very steep going north and going south it is a very gentle decline.

- Thank you, Dan Rice, for giving us a picture of the best thing Akron has to offer, the canal and the towpath.

Forum 360, with a global outlook and local view.

Thank you for tuning in, I'm Ardith Keck.

Forum 360 is brought to you by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Akron Community Foundation, Hudson Community Television, the Rubber City Radio Group, Shaw Jewish Community Center of Akron, Blue Green, Electric Impulse Communications, and Forum 360 supporters.