The Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) Locks is a 100-year-old facility and this Seattle icon was in drastic need of updates for visitors. The Locks hosts approximately 1.2 million visitors a year and the Fish Ladder is its primary educational attraction.
In 1976 the Fish Ladder Viewing Gallery was built as a venue to watch salmon migrate through the Locks. It had no major upgrades since it was opened over 40 years ago. Starting in 2017
Discover Your Northwest, in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers Foundation and Seattle
District of the Army Corps of Engineers, started fundraising to renovate the interior of the Fish
Ladder Viewing Gallery and design and install new exhibits. Today, thanks to several major
grants and your generous donations, major improvements to physical structure, interpretive
exhibits, and educational technology have been completed.
Before:
After:
Your donations made this renovation project at the Ballard Locks possible. Thank you for your
support!
The Legacy Wall
While we received several generous grants for the Fish Ladder Viewing Gallery renovation, we also needed help from the local community and businesses to complete this project. We installed a Legacy Wall at the entrance of the Fish Ladder to honor donors who supported this important project with a legacy contribution. Each donor is commemorated with an inscribed stainless steel Legacy Fish. If you were one of the many families, individuals, or companies that donated a Legacy Fish, please stop by the Fish Ladder to see your fish on the wall. We thank you all for your support!
