The line up of things for families to do at Canalside continues to grow. One addition combines Buffalo's maritime history with the desire to provide a fun place to bring kids.
It looks like a big old fashioned tugboat has washed up on the Children's Beach at Canalside. Over the weekend, the first kids were able to climb aboard the brand new 25-foot long wooden play structure.
"What this does it brings the tugboat right up on land...The history of this town...what happened back in our prime time was these waters were filled with boats and tugs," explained Tom Dee, Erie Canal Harbor Corporation President.
"This is just a simplification of what something would look like. And we combine that as a place where the kids can play."
While acknowledging the central role that concerts bring to Canalside, Dee says it's also to higlight the diverse activities at the site.
"Pull up an Adirondack Chair and enjoy the sunset. Enjoy the water...Families can come down," Dee said.
"They're (kids) not going to be bored here. There's plenty of green space. There's plenty of opportunity to run around. They can through a ball. They can run and play in the sand now. And now they can play on a tugboat."
It's based it on tugs used for icebreaking and assisting vessels on the Great Lakes for more than a hundred years.