If it was important to Buffalo to restore the western terminus of the Erie Canal, imagine what it means to Lockport —and the rest of Western New York—to rehabilitate the canal’s famous “Flight of Five” locks in the city. This is an important project and it is now under way.

Early work has focused on remediating a problem with lead paint on the railings near the base of the Flight of Five and injecting epoxy into the stone steps. An additional piece of canal stone, known as Lockport dolomite, also is needed to replace a missing piece.

Happily—actually, this is all but unheard of—the project is under budget, so it will be financially easy to hire a subcontractor to do that work. The stone should also be easily available.

This is only the start of what is expected to be a $10 million project, but restoring these locks not only does honor to a historical past, but ties into the region’s economic future. Western New York may never be the destination that New York City is, but with Niagara Falls as its backstop, tourism is on the verge of becoming a larger piece of our economic puzzle.

That change is most obvious in Buffalo, where the waterfront is primed for renewal, thanks to hard-won funding from the New York Power Authority as well as federal highway funding. Both Erie Canal Harbor and the outer harbor will become more attractive over the coming years as road projects, waterfront work and economic development—including the opening of a Bass Pro store—take shape. The newly restored canal terminus already ais ccepting visitors, as anyone who enjoyed the weekend’s holiday fireworks can attest.

There’s more. Work on two Frank Lloyd Wright homes— Greycliff and the Darwin Martin House—is proceeding and gathering momentum. They will be significant draws for the cultural tourists. The project to restore the magnificent Richardson Towers is continuing, and also should prove a notable draw.

Farther north, Artpark is a continuing and improving attraction— assuming the state doesn’t sabotage it by killing its funding source. And, of course, Niagara Falls itself is waiting only for leaders of its namesake city to get serious about taking advantage of one of the world’s premier brands in tourism. The Lockport locks fit perfectly into that collage. Indeed, it could be the kind of attraction that prompts visitors to do more in the Lockport area than they might have otherwise.

It is important to keep up the momentum on these efforts. That may be no easy task in a time of economic weakness, but the region’s economic hopes will be built, in part, on this foundation. It’s worth the work.