The old Richmond Avenue looks and feels a lot different since 2008. With its original name returned, Canal Street began to see investment befitting its position as the heart of the Lockport Locks Heritage District. The first step — installation of a railing on the south side of the street, overlooking the Lockport Locks — was small, but it seemed to inspire a movement.
Chuck Bell, who was the CEO of Greater Lockport Development Corporation at the time, remembers Richmond Avenue lined with vacant buildings that needed to be rehabilitated or demolished. Under the watch of then-mayor Michael Tucker, slowly, the city began to invest in the one-block street. Today Canal Street boasts two small businesses, a coffee house and an ice cream shop, as well as the weekly, open-air Lockport Community Farmers Market.
A block away, a taproom and bottle shop, and a beauty salon, have recently opened. Steamworks, at 51 Canal St., was started by Jonathan Brose in 2016.
The locks heritage district wasn’t as impressive then as it is now, Brose said. There was some tourism, but Brose thought the only way he’d turn a profit on Canal Street was through sweat equity, meaning he’d be doing all the work. Today, with more than 20 employees, Brose isn’t so tired, and from a financial perspective, Steamworks is successful.
“It’s not lucrative,” he said. “It’s still a restaurant and profit margins are small, but it’s been a great investment and I’m grateful to still be here.” T.