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AGAWA CANYON TOUR TRAIN STATION: BUILDING OF THE YEAR, BUT WHICH YEAR?
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When the time came to revamp the Agawa Canyon Tour Train Station,
SIS Group and
MGP Architects rose to the challenge with
Robertson custom-engineered metal buildings.
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In Northern Ontario, a rail line begins where the waters of Lake Superior mix with those of Lake Huron – and where the upper peninsula of Michigan meets the lands of Canada. From here, at Sault Ste. Marie, the century-old rails travel 184 kilometers over towering trestles, through rugged landscapes and 500 feet down into Agawa Canyon, a shallow, heavily forested canyon. A place with no roads, accessible only on foot or by rail.
The Agawa Canyon Train began carrying tourists into Agawa Canyon in the 1960s and peaked at 100,000 visitors from around the world annually in the 1980s. Though the Autumn foliage is a huge draw, rail tourism has declined in recent years, and the full shutdown due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic might have been the final nail in the rail’s coffin – if it weren’t for the creativity, innovation, and courage of a few people. The train tour itself was an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience. What it needed was a starting point to match.
After some back-and-forth, the design for a new train station was in place and construction began. The 30’ high clear-span central building features a double-slope CFR roof with straight columns and 19’ high lean-to frames on either side of the center building. The end result is a stunning train station that visitors and locals can be proud of.
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