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People will soon be free to see Chaudière Falls, even if the falls won’t be freed.

The distinction represents the difference between the installation of three new, publicly-accessible viewing platforms — as part of a massive construction project now underway — and the complete removal of a ring dam that has been in place for more than a hundred years.

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Activists want the dam gone completely in order to restore a sacred First Nations meeting site and allow fish and other aquatic life to travel freely and thrive.

But Hydro Ottawa has a different plan.

On Monday, the utility showed off the construction pit currently being transformed into a new, 29-megawatt hydroelectric generating facility. Scheduled to open in 2017, the new, $150-million plant will feed into the provincial grid and power 20,000 homes annually without blocking views of the Ottawa River (because it is being built below ground). It is to feature three viewing platforms and a new bridge across the intake channel for pedestrians and cyclists.