Seneca Chief replica launched in Buffalo

Nearly two hours later, a crane lowered the boat into the Lackawanna Canal in the Port of Buffalo, in the presence of a smaller but equally passionate audience.

The boat launch was the culmination of an extraordinary volunteer boat-building effort that began in October 2020 under the auspices of the Buffalo Maritime Center and involved 218 volunteers. It also started a countdown for the Seneca Chief to sail the Erie Canal during the historic waterway’s bicentennial next year.

“To see all the effort reach that water was incredible,” said Henry Schmidt, a Snyder volunteer who cast the bronze for the boat, after it landed. “And it was the shared community that built this – that put this thing in the water and brought this story to light.”

The vessel completed a trial run of approximately 45 minutes before docking on the south side of the commercial slipway at Canalside, where it will remain this year except for a week of trials in August at Brockport, Medina and Lockport .

“This day exceeded expectations,” said Brian Trzeciak, executive director of the Maritime Center. “There were no problems and the crowd just made the day better.”

A ceremony to commemorate the project’s completion will be held on May 25.

The Marine Center staff’s biggest concern was moving the boat out of the Longshed and trucking it 6 miles through the streets of Buffalo.

The slow-moving, heavily chaperoned flatbed trailer rolled down Marine Drive, crossed Washington Street to Scott Street, and turned onto Michigan Avenue and back onto South Park before heading down Louisiana Street and crossing the Ohio Street Bridge . The boat then proceeded to Fuhrmann Boulevard and Route 5, where it exited at Ridge Road, turned around on Fuhrmann and turned toward the Buffalo Harbor.

“It’s supposed to go in the water,” said Greg Dudley, lead carpenter, as the truck’s hydraulic equipment prepared the boat to leave the Longshed Tuesday morning. “It is not intended for use on roads.”

It turned out that the moving of the boat out of the building, started the day before with preliminary work and resumed at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, went as planned.

The Seneca Chief Project replica was designed decades ago by John Montague, founder and director emeritus of the Maritime Center. It received a boost in 2018, when Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. authorized construction of the ship two years later in Canalside, giving the project a public viewing area after work began in August 2019 at the Riverside Maritime Center.

Some of the volunteer boat builders there Tuesday morning said they needed to see the Seneca Chief right itself once it left land.

“I want to see them put it in the water,” said Stuart Wiesmore, a West Seneca resident who worked on building models for the hull. “I really want to know if it’s going to float.”

“I hope it floats,” said Scott Nourse, after riding his boat from Canalside to the Buffalo Harbor to watch the boat enter the water. “It looks beautiful in the sun,” he said, admiring the boat’s light yellow, Kelly green, white and red colors. “The colors are really vibrant.”

Jim Darlington, a volunteer who commuted once a week from Syracuse to work on the boat, was there.

“It’s a fantastic project and a really good feeling of accomplishment,” he said.

Historian Fran Kowsky also came to see the boat’s completion.

“It is a proud day not only for the residents of Western New York, but for all of New York State, to see this replica riverboat emerge from its cocoon and getting into the real world again,” Kowsky said.

Interior work still needs to be completed, including an exhibit inside the boat used for educational programs.

The 2025 Bicentennial Journey will travel to Albany and New York to commemorate the opening of the Erie Canal, teaming up with municipalities at all 28 canal and Hudson River stops for community programs.

On Tuesday, it was enough to have the boat finished and in the water.

“It’s exciting to see this happening in Buffalo,” said Allentown resident Nancy Somit, “and to celebrate the artists who built the ship.”

“It’s really impressive that they managed to capture the essence of the canal in one project,” said Brian Walker.

“It’s just fabulous,” added Debbie Williams. “As Marv Levy said: ‘Where else would you rather be than here, right now?’ All superlatives, like ‘once in a lifetime’, are appropriate today.”