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From Kingston, Ont. to Duluth, port directors and trade promoters are trying to forecast the trade patterns through the new seaway—and cash in on them. Toronto is watching a new $10 million sugar refinery rise on its waterfront to process raw sugar from the Caribbean. Cleveland will deepen its harbor to provide safe berthing for the ore boats from Labrador, and Chicago is building a new seaport from the mud up in Lake Calumet, a onetime shallow slough and garbage dump.
For Ontario, the St. Lawrence's power output is fully as important as its ship channels. St. Lawrence power costs 44% less than electricity from coal-fired plants, was desperately needed to fuel Ontario's rapidly expanding postwar industry. In Massena, Reynolds Metals Co. is building a power-gulping aluminum reduction plant.
The St. Lawrence project seems sure to stimulate another profitable industry along the river: entertainment of tourists. Almost from the day digging began, uninvited visitors streamed toward the construction sites with cameras and questions. Ontario Hydro rallied quickly, organized free bus tours of its building sites, will play host to an estimated 1,000,000 visitors this year. Locks and dams have been provided with observation towers, and parks line the river's banks at interesting points. Already, seaway officials are making big plans for a huge public celebration next year. Then, if all goes as planned, Queen Elizabeth II, sovereign of Canada, and Dwight Eisenhower, President of the U.S., will meet somewhere along the St. Lawrence and—while tens of thousands watch—dedicate one of the world's most impressive monuments to practical international cooperation.