MASSENA -- The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation will close public access to its Visitors' Center at the U.S. Eisenhower Lock at 6 p.m. on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

From Aug. 31 through Sept. 7, the center will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is free to the public.

Gift shop hours will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A north overlook parking lot will remain available for visitors to view ships after the center is closed.

The center has an attraction for North Country residents and tourists visiting the region since 1961, two years after the Seaway opened.

This year, nearly 52,000 visitors came to center or stopped by the overlook to view ships from dozens of nations traversing the bi-national U.S.-Canadian inland waterway, according to the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

The Eisenhower Visitors' Center is located off state Route 37 and is handicap accesible.

There are several ways to get up-to-date information on estimated vessel transit times. Call 769-2422, for a voice recording of that day’s projected lockage schedule.

Review the Great Lakes-Seaway binational website at http://bit.ly/1N0chPb, which updates every 15 minutes with details on ships currently in transit within the Seaway System.

Review lock-specific information at http://bit.ly/1JqtoWr, which offers real-time information on vessels preparing to enter any of the locks (by pulling down the “Order of Turn Information”).