Niagara Falls | In the bowels of an old power station

A century-old tunnel leading to the base of Niagara Falls is now open to the public. The Press visited it in August.

Jean-Thomas Léveillé
The Press

(Niagara Falls) The roar of the falls suggests that we are almost there.

However, we are still only halfway through the almost 700 m long tunnel, the slight curve of which prevents us from seeing the exit.

As if we had wanted to preserve the highlight of the show.

A few more minutes of walking, then the light dazzles us.

Here we are: at the foot of Niagara Falls, on a rocky outcrop in the river, gently watered by a fine drizzle raised by the torrents of water that parade in front of us.

For a century, this tunnel was used to send back to the river the water that turned the turbines of the Canadian Niagara Power generating station, the first on the Niagara River, on the Canadian side, today inactive.

Since July, it has been open to the public.

It offers “a whole new perspective on Niagara Falls,” enthuses David Adames, president and CEO of the Niagara Parks Commission.

Before, it was possible to see the falls at different times of the day, or of the year; now it is possible to see them from a new place, he says.

The brick tunnel has been given a concrete sidewalk, making it easily accessible to strollers and wheelchairs.

Cold-blooded visitors will remember to bring a “little wool”, because the depths of the ground are cool and humid, even in the heat of the day.

60m underground

The tunnel is accessed by a 60-meter elevator, from the ground floor of the old power station located at the top of the falls and which became a tourist attraction in 2021.

It is precisely because of their height that Niagara Falls aroused the covetousness of the first electricity producers.

“More the descent [de l’eau] is greater, the greater the capacity to generate current”, recalls our guide, Susanna.

Opened in 1904, the 75 megawatt (MW) plant closed in 2006, faced with excessive modernization costs — it produced electrical current at a frequency of 25 hertz, whereas the North American standard today is 60 — which was of interest only to the few steel mills in Hamilton.

The Niagara Parks Commission has transformed the power station into an interpretation center to promote the history and heritage of this magnificent industrial building — the government agency, created in 1885, has always imposed strict architectural and urban planning rules.

The place was “remarkably well preserved”, says David Adames, who adds that the company had kept all its archives, which was of great help in adapting the plant to its new role.

A visit mainly in English

After crossing the two gigantic copper entrance doors, each weighing 900 kg, behind which are still the two counters where customers used to go to pay their bills, we can see the 11 turbines which have transformed the power of the water into electricity for a century.

Almost everywhere, QR codes allow you to read explanations on your smartphone, in English and French, or even to listen to them, in English only for the moment, but French translations are planned.

Guided tours are also offered in English, but the Niagara Parks Commission wants to offer some in French “in the near future.”

It is also possible, for an additional fee, to attend a sound and light presentation at the beginning of the evening produced by the Montreal studio of the firm Thinkwell.

This thirty-minute “immersive” dive into the history of hydroelectricity and the power station is made up of artistic animations projected on the wall and on the ground.

But the narration, in English, is sometimes difficult to hear and the work as a whole will teach nothing more to those who have previously visited the plant.