Cascade Street Hydro Dam in Parry Sound, ON

(Satellite)

While looking at a satellite map for the location of the Canadian Pacific trestle in Parry Sound, ON, I spotted this dam. The concrete in the dam is in such bad shape that I decided to research it further. Also, the gates are just flood boards and a sluice gate. Bracebridge Generation built hydrodams in various communities in Ontario. This powerhouse by Cascade Street was built in 1919 with a capacity of 1.2mw.

BG-history, cropped

In 2017, a new C$17m powerhouse that can generate 3.1mw became operational. [WaterCanada] C$17m is USS$13.8m. "Ontario has about 8,800 MW of installed hydroelectric capacity." 23% of the generating capacity in Ontario is hydroelectric. [HydroReview]

BG-watershed

I saved the 2013 Street View below because hopefully the upgrade included repairs to the dam and this image will change. It will be interesting to see when Google updates the street view so that I can check the dam again.

Street View, Sep 2013