Corps to celebrate new community gathering place near Soo Locks

Published Sept. 19, 2019
New community gathering place near Soo Locks.

New community gathering place near Soo Locks.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announce an addition to a traditional community gathering area in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

On Thursday, September 26, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will celebrate the addition of a community picnic shelter in Brady Park near the Soo Locks. Community members are invited to bring their lunch and join the Corps for the official grand opening.

Event details:

     Who: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bay Mills Indian Community, City of Sault Ste. Marie, Sault Ste. Marie Convention & Visitors Bureau, Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and Soo Locks Visitors Center Association

     What: Official opening and brief remarks. The general public is invited to bring a lunch and share in the celebration -- no registration needed.

     When: Noon, September 26, 2019

     Where: Brady Park in the picnic pavilion near the Soo Locks (See map.)

The event will highlight the support of several community partners who made the addition of this picnic shelter possible. The new structure came about thanks to a Handshake Challenge Partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bay Mills Indian Community, City of Sault Ste. Marie, Sault Ste. Marie Convention & Visitors Bureau, Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and Soo Locks Visitors Center Association.

Since 2004, the Corps’ Handshake Challenge Partnership has allowed local Corps offices to compete for seed money to undertake worthy projects that improve recreational opportunities on public lands. The Soo Area Office’s partnership project received $20,000 from Corps

Headquarters, and over $30,000 in funds, materials and professional services to complete this picnic shelter.

The St. Marys River has drawn people to the area for thousands of years. Thousands of Anishinaabek encamped there every year to harvest whitefish and strengthen their extended family and community connections, long before it was known as Brady Park. When the French arrived, they built a fort on the St. Marys River shoreline. The British took this fort over before losing it to the Americans who built Fort Brady, named for Brigadier General Hugh Brady, who led the American military presence in that area around 1822. The area remained a sacred site for the Anishinaabek and a social center for the local community throughout. The Corps of Engineers continuously works with local tribes and the community to maintain the historic, communal use of the field by preserving Brady Park as a public space.

The accessible shelter is available to the public on a first-come-first-served basis during regular park hours, 6 a.m. – midnight. Go to:  http://www.lre.usace.army.mil for additional information.

For any questions please call Lynn Rose, public affairs director at 313-226-4680.

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Contact
Lynn Rose
313-226-4680
313-300-0662 (cell)
Lynn.M.Rose@usace.army.mil

Release no. 19-014