A National treasure in distress
In 2022, the General Assembly appropriated $7 million for canal repairs. However, the state imposed a $7 million match requirement, forcing the project to raise the full $14 million needed to restore the entire state historic site before the first dollar could be spent.
Stakeholders argue the match directly conflicts with the statutory obligation, delays urgently needed preservation, unfairly shifts responsibility away from the state and places a legally protected historic site at risk.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has proposed using a Lilly Endowment grant to satisfy the match, but documentation is still pending, and the aqueduct continues to degrade.
Request to the State Budget Committee
In a letter delivered by local organizations and residents including Alan Stenger, I Love Metamora and Franklin County Chamber of Commerce President; John Palmer, Franklin County Economic Development Commission President; Bev Spurlin, Franklin County Tourism Executive Director; Candy Yurcak, Whitewater Canal Byway Association Founder; Don Vondermeulen, Whitewater Canal Trail President; Ron Morris, Canal Society of Indiana President; Mary Walker, Wayne County Indiana Tourism Executive Director and Andy Swering, Whitewater Valley Railroad President urged the Indiana State Budget Committee to release $4 million of the $7 million already appropriated for immediate stabilization work on the aqueduct.
Doing so would allow engineers to begin emergency reinforcement, helping the state fulfill both:
* IC 14-20-5-2 - the obligation to maintain the Canal, and
* IC 14-20-1-24 - the obligation to preserve, restore, maintain, and interpret State Historic Sites.
"Without intervention, one major storm could destroy an irreplaceable piece of Indiana and American history," the letter states.
A Structure Unlike Any Other - Anywhere
The current aqueduct was rebuilt in 1846 after the original 1843 open-trough wooden aqueduct washed out in a flood. To restore the canal quickly, engineers adapted a partially built covered bridge into a new aqueduct, a hybrid structure not seen anywhere else.
Across the globe, surviving historic aqueducts were built of stone, iron, or masonry. Only Metamora's was made from wood, a material never expected to endure this long.
Its continued survival is a miracle of craftsmanship, climate, and care.
A Community Bound to Its Canal
For generations, the Whitewater Canal has been the backbone of Metamora's identity, tourism economy and historic character. The loss of the canal boat has already reduced visitor traffic, hurting small shops, events and regional tourism.
The aqueduct, however, is the centerpiece.
It is the image printed on brochures, the backdrop for thousands of photographs and the single feature that makes Metamora instantly recognizable across Indiana and beyond.
Its loss would mean:
* The collapse of the defining structure of Indiana's only canal town
* Further economic decline for businesses dependent on tourism
* The erasure of a nationally significant engineering landmark
* The end of a one-of-a-kind historic experience found nowhere else in America
As the stakeholders' letter states:
"Metamora's canal, locks, and aqueduct are more than relics. They are living pieces of Indiana's story. When the final surviving example disappears, it disappears forever."
Public Call to Action
Community leaders are now urging Hoosiers statewide, along with residents of Franklin County and the Whitewater Valley, to contact their state legislators, the Indiana State Budget Committee, and the Governor's Office to advocate for the immediate release of the $4 million already appropriated for canal restoration. They emphasize that releasing this portion of the funding is the quickest, most effective step the state can take to prevent further deterioration and begin stabilizing the aqueduct before another storm season arrives.