MANCHESTER, NH — Friday marks the last day to visit the Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitor Center, as such. After that, the center’s fish ladder will be the only remnant of the aquatic and nature hub, which will move to seasonal-only attraction starting this year.
The change was announced last week, following the sale of the Amoskeag Hydroelectric Station that is at Exit 6, on the Merrimack River, one of nine hydropower dams purchased by an affiliate of Hull Street Energy of Bethesda, MD, for $83 million in August.
Eversource’s nine hydroelectric stations — Amoskeag Hydro, Ayers Island Hydro, Canaan Hydro, Eastman Falls Hydro, Garvins Falls Hydro, Gorham Hydro, Hooksett Hydro, Jackman Hydro, and Smith Hydro — will continue operating under new ownership.
“The completion of this sale is the final milestone in the deregulation of the electric utility industry in the Granite State, which will provide a number of important benefits to our customers,” Eversource NH President Bill Quinlan said in August. “With this final sale, we are honoring the commitments made to employees and communities where the facilities are located, and we will maintain close communication with the towns to ensure a smooth transition.”
Under the sale agreements, the new owners must keep the plants in service for at least 18 months, and must honor a comprehensive employee benefits package established by Eversource and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Moreover, Eversource will provide three years of tax stabilization payments to communities where a power plant was sold for less than its assessed value.
They didn’t, however, know what to do with the visitor center
The Fishway center marked the transition with a “farewell party” on March 1 after 24 years as a year-round attraction. You can visit the center this week, but as of March 11, only the fish ladder will be open.
Over the past 24 years the center was open seven days a week during fish migration season in May and June, and throughout the year featured exhibits that celebrated the mighty Merrimack River and its watershed, the historical use of the Amoskeag area, and the wildlife ecosystem.
The underwater viewing windows allow visitors a peer into a 54-pool fish ladder of migrating fish who make their way around the Amoskeag Dam and continue on their way up the river to reproduce.
Over the years Amoskeag Fishways offered a variety of educational programs geared toward families, student field trips and teacher workshops, providing information about river wildlife, river ecology, electricity, hydro and solar power, fish biology, urban wildlife, survival skills, Native Americans, and more.
Under the sale agreements, the new owners must keep the plants in service for at least 18 months, and must honor a comprehensive employee benefits package established by Eversource and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Moreover, Eversource will provide three years of tax stabilization payments to communities where a power plant was sold for less than its assessed value.
