Melvin Price Locks & Dam Dedicated Twenty Years Ago Today
Two decades ago, on Saturday June 18, 1994, the Melvin Price Locks & Dam was officially dedicated, replacing Lock & Dam 26.
![The structure is very large](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/melvinpricelocksdam01.jpg)
![Looking down river from up top as a barge leaves the auxiliary lock. The main lock has been out of service since November.](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/melvinpricelocksdam02.jpg)
![The gate closing behind downstream barge as it entered the lock](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/melvinpricelocksdam03.jpg)
![Looking upstream toward Alton and the Clark Bridge](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/melvinpricelocksdam04.jpg)
![The flood of 1993 flooded the open, but incomplete, facility before the dedication. .](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/melvinpricelocksdam05.jpg)
Some facts about the Melvin Price Locks & Dam:
- Also known as #26, the number of the old lock & dam it replaced
- Named for the Illinois congressman that championed the project, Charles Melvin Price (January 1905 – April 1988)
- Construction began in 1979, the main lock opened in 1990, and the full structure was completed in 1994.
And here’s an image of the old lock & dam 26:
![AERIAL VIEW OF LOCK AND DAM, LOOKING SOUTHEAST Photocopy of photograph, ca. 1980. Original print is on file at St. Louis District Office, U.S. Engineer Office, St. Louis, Missouri. - Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Channel Project, Lock & Dam 26, Alton, Madison County, IL](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/lockdam26.jpg)
And finally, another metro east facility was dedicated on June 18th. Nine years ago (2005) the Malcolm Martin Memorial Park, where I got married recently, was dedicated.
— Steve Patterson