Brockville Ontario - Tourists and historians are once again flocking to Canada's first railway tunnel in Brockville, home to stone walls, century-old mineral deposits, and a brand new light show.
 
The tunnel opened for its second season Saturday, after its debut in 2017 made it one of the top tourist sites in Ontario, said Brockville councillor David LeSueur.
 
"The city has made it completely safe and added the light show and music," said LeSueur, who worked on the tunnel for seven years and spoke with CBC Radio's In Town and Out, Saturday.
 
"It's something for everyone."
 
The 525 metre stone tunnel, built between 1854 and 1860, runs through the downtown core of the city.
 
It was initially built for the Brockville & Ottawa Railway.
 
The tunnel was last used for train travel in 1970, and the City of Brockville acquired it more than a decade after.
 
In August 2017, the city reopened the tunnel as a tourist attraction.
 
Although the rail tracks have been removed, the tunnel features a light show that highlights its engineering, architectural, and geological features.
 
LeSueur, who also chairs the Brockville Railway Tunnel Committee, told In Town and Out that its original walls remain untouched.
 
"There's a little bit of water that drips on you in certain areas. You'll see stone work. You'll see an area that they used gun powder to blast through the rock," he said.
 
"It comes out to the north end of the city near the CN tracks, and the line used to go all the way up to Ottawa."
 
Roughly 25,000 visitors walked through the tunnel during its debut weekend last year, LeSueur said.
 
"A lot of people say that, at the end of the day, it calms them down," he said.
 
"Kids like to dance to the music. Historians and photographers are hard to get out of there. They love the architectural features and the mineral deposits that have been built up for 150 years plus."
 
This year the tunnel reopened around Easter, LeSueur said, to welcome back families during the long weekend.
 
It was even home to an Easter egg hunt this year, he added.
 
"All the citizens of Brockville were thinking we should open it as a tourist attraction," he said.
 
"It's a fantastic site."
 
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