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Rondeau Provincial Park, located in southwestern Ontario, Canada is the second oldest provincial park having been established with an order in council on 8 September 1894. The park is located on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extending into Lake Erie. In a 1930 soil survey most of the spit was mapped as Berrien sand, which is imperfectly drained.〔http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/surveys/on/on3/index.html〕 There are only two sand spits like this one in all of North America, one in Rondeau and one in Florida. Rondeau was established in 1894 as a response to demand for cottaging opportunities by residents of nearby Chatham. It is the second-oldest provincial park in Ontario (after Algonquin Provincial Park). Until recently it was recognized as the largest tourist destination in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. Rondeau is also home to the largest area of Carolinian forest in Canada, a long sand beach, a large marsh, approximately half of Rondeau Bay, campgrounds and a cottage community. Most of the park is natural environment; the cottage community takes up less than 1% of the park area and is practically invisible from the air. The name of the park comes from the French words "ronde eau" or "round water" which describes the shape of the harbour sheltered by the peninsula. The park is an important stopover for birds during migration and has been identified as a Canadian Important Bird Area. Its Carolinian woods also provide nesting habitat for the prothonotary warbler and many other Carolinian species. Limited hunting of white-tailed deer has been permitted within the park to control deer numbers because these animals no longer have any natural predators, and pose a threat to the park's forested areas. Waterfowl hunting is permitted in the park area in the fall. =="Government Dock" on Rondeau Bay== The park's signature landmark has always been the Government Dock on Rondeau Bay. The original Government Dock was built in 1895, the year after the park was chartered. It survived until 1907 when it was destroyed by a storm. The second dock was built in 1909 and it remained in place until 1954 when it was rebuilt & lengthened to go farther out into deeper water. This dock remained until 1971 when it was completely rebuilt as a 420' x 16' structure. Cost of construction was $50,000. The 1971 Government Dock remained in active use until February 28, 2014 when it was destroyed by a demolition crew hired by Ontario Parks. According to MNR Press Releases the dock was a victim of an unusually harsh winter. One theory is that the thick bay ice hugged its support braces tightly and when the ice floated up under hydraulic pressure it pulled the pilings up with it. That allowed the shifting ice to move a section northward, giving it a noticeable bend near the ’T’ at the end. On January 15th the dock was “temporarily” cordoned-off pending an Engineer’s Report on the options for fixing it. Then six weeks later demolition began using heavy equipment driven out onto the ice. And a week after that the Government Dock was gone from Rondeau Bay forever. On March 14th a Ridgetown-area family started an online petition asking former Superintendent Rick Post to please replace the dock. On March 25th the Chatham Daily News reported on the petition. An MNR spokesperson said that nothing was yet decided — and the Engineer’s Report hadn’t been completed. Note that by then the dock had already been gone for nearly a month. On April 3rd Chatham-Kent Essex MPP Rick Nicholls raised the issue of replacing the Government Dock during Question Period in the Legislature. On May 17th MPP Nicholls stated that he was unable to obtain a copy of the Engineers Report justifying the demolition of the structure. On June 4th an MNR spokesperson gave this statement to the local newsmedia: “There was an engineering firm that was doing an assessment. They’ve now completed the assessment and the rehab options and we’re reviewing the report. We have to keep it closed because it’s a safety risk, but then we have to take time to consider our options. We will be looking at a number of things as we review the report. Factors under consideration are things like recreational opportunities, species at risk and cost effectiveness.” At this point the dock had been gone for 96 days. The estimated cost to rebuild the structure is $600,000 to $750,000. As a provincially owned structure over 40 years of age, it was covered by the Standards & Guidelines for Protection of Provincial Heritage Properties and should have had a Cultural Heritage assessment done by a qualified assessor prior to demolition. There is no indication that this assessment was ever completed by Ontario Parks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rondeau Provincial Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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