Tug URGER on the Move!
Thank you to all who signed Tug URGER's 120th birthday card earlier this summer. Perhaps URGER's best birthday present is that this week (September 20-24) Tug URGER is moving from her prior perch at the Waterford dry dock to the NYS Canal Corporation's Lysander Maintenance Shops in Onondaga County.
At this facility, the URGER will come out of the water for on-land storage and greater protection. From there, the National Park Service can conduct a Historic American Engineering Survey, and the NYS Canal Corporation can better assess and evaluate all options for the URGER's future.
This move follows recommendations made last year by the URGER Working Group. The Preservation League has participated in the URGER Working Group since its inception in 2019 and applauds this positive step for Tug URGER. The group's unanimous recommendation was for the NYS Canal Corporation to make the necessary repairs in order to stop further deterioration while it considers next steps for New York's flagship Teaching Tug.
In her heyday not too long ago, Tug URGER educated over 100,000 students on the significance and history of the NYS Canal System. What better way to celebrate the system as it approaches the 200th anniversary of its completion, than to make the repairs necessary for her to be back in the water and available for interpretation.
Follow us and the NYS Canal Corporation on social media to learn where Tug URGER will be as she makes her way along the canal this week!