In 1988, a group of people dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Erie Canal formed E.R.I.E. (Erie’s Restoration Interests Everyone). A major goal of this group was to see E-56 restored and rewatered, however the group's efforts were undermined by a lack of community interest and funding.

Today, with the advent of the National Park Service's Erie Canalway / National Heritage Corridor Program, a new initiative has been created to again review the restoration of this important site. The lock chambers are still intact and plumb. The walls, although impacted by small trees, have not shifted or collapsed. The only noteworthy changes to the original Enlarged Erie version of E-56 are the “final improvements” that include poured concrete found at the west end and intermittently on lock walls. These were done between 1913 and 1917.