Visitors center in the works at historical Augusta Canal

AUGUSTA - Historic Augusta Canal, which since 1845 has played a role in the region&#39;s transportation system, hydropower resources and water supply, will be getting a new visitors center next year. <br> <br> The three million dollar center now under development at Enterprise Mill, near the canal, will offer videos and other exhibits about the past and current workings of the canal as well as exhibits on hydropower, the textile industry, America&#39;s industrial revolution and regional life during wartime. <br> <br> The executive director of the Canal Authority, Dayton Sherrouse, said ``We&#39;re hoping to have it all come together and be open next April.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Components of the 11,000-square-foot center are being created as far away as Massachusetts and California. <br> <br> Closer to home, a warehouse near Tybee Island may be the site for building a pair of tour boats to ferry visitors from the center to the headgates upstream. The boats will be modernized models of the old cigar-shaped Petersburg boats that once hauled freight between Augusta and settlements further north. <br> <br> Organizers say they hope the Canal will become one of the South&#39;s premiere interpretive historical attractions.