Federal grant will spur restoration of Paterson's Great Falls raceway canals

PATERSON — The canals that once powered Paterson's mills by diverting water from the Passaic River have become dried-out dumping grounds for debris and are overgrown with brush that hides illicit activity.

But officials this week announced the first significant investment in more than a decade toward restoring the canals, which extend for about a mile near the Great Falls and are commonly called raceways.

The $775,000 in funding from the National Park Service will cover about half the cost of two first-step projects — the $990,000 repair of the crumbling gatehouse building where the water was directed into the canals just upriver from the Great Falls and the $560,000 rehabilitation of what is called the “upper raceway,” which mostly runs parallel to Spruce Street.

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., who led the charge for the area’s national park designation, called the Great Falls “the gem of the Silk City.”

“It is imperative we restore its dilapidated features so that future generations may enjoy the Falls as we do,” Pascrell said. “These federal funds are terrific news for Paterson’s national park.”

Officials said they hope to get the rest of the money for the two raceway projects from the Passaic Valley Water Commission, as part of an agreement allowing the agency to enclose its open-air reservoirs. The water commission said it would make the money for the raceway project available after it gets all of its permits and approvals for the reservoir work.

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The raceway gatehouse, which was built in 1838, needs extensive structural work to prevent it from falling apart, officials said. After being repaired, the building could be used for historic exhibits about the role of the raceways in Paterson’s birth as America’s first planned industrial city.

“That’s what we’re about, preserving history,” said Darren Boch, superintendent of the national park.

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The gatehouse stands near the river at the corner of Wayne and McBride avenues where it used to prop up a sign for the now-closed Libby’s Texas Weiners. The upper raceway extends from the gatehouse behind the Burger King restaurant and New Jersey Community Development Corporation headquarters on Spruce Street. The raceway work would clear the overgrowth and improve the path that runs along the top of the canal, including repairing two wooden footbridges and improving the lighting.

The work on the gatehouse and upper raceway likely won’t start until 2023, officials said. They are two portions of the 19th century power grid that also included middle and lower level canals. Millions more dollars would have to be spent fixing the other portions of the raceway system before water could be pumped back into the canals to replicate the historical energy system, officials said.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ canals that powered industry will be restored