when it is hoped to complete the building as a fully representative picture of life 

 in York County prior to 1867. 



The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority formally opened its 

 Pioneer Village in Fanshawe Park near London, in 1959, and this Pioneer 

 Village represents a village of the 1830's. 



In respect to the Doon Pioneer Village, the Grand Valley Conservation 

 Authority provided a site of 50 acres, a part of the Doon Conservation Area. 

 The Ontario Pioneer Community Foundation which is financed and directed by 

 individuals in municipalities in Waterloo County, is responsible for the acquisi- 

 tion and the development of the Pioneer Village on this particular site. 



These Pioneer Villages have gained a large share of attention from the 

 public. In their development, the use and abuse of natural resources is empha- 

 sized. The conservation lessons to be learned from visits to these villages by 

 both children and adults, emphasize the obvious dependence of the pioneer on 

 his natural resources and the less obvious dependence of modern man. Just 

 under 100,000 people visited the Pioneer Village in the Black Creek Conserva- 

 tion Area in 1961. Of this number, over 12,000 were school children. The other 

 villages have also been host to many visitors. 



The Grand River Conservation Commission 



The Grand River Conservation Commission was established in 1938, under 

 The Grand River Conservation Act. The Commission is composed of twelve 

 members representing eight urban municipahties. These municipalities are the 

 cities of Brantford, Gait, Kitchener, Waterloo, and the towns of Paris, Preston, 

 Flora and Fergus. 



Being established eight years before the passing of The Conservation Author- 

 ities Act, the Grand River Conservation Commission was charged under its 

 special Act with the responsibility of dealing with water problems on the Grand 

 River. It is empowered to erect works and create reservoirs by the construction 

 of dams or otherwise. 



The Commission has carried out three major projects. The first of these 

 was the Shand Dam and Reservoir on the Upper Grand River near Fergus. 

 This dam was completed in 1942 at a cost of $2,056,490. The second project 

 of the Commission was the Luther Marsh Dam and Reservoir at the head- 

 waters of the Grand River which was completed in 1953 at a cost of $233,800. 

 The most recent project has been the Conestogo Dam and Reservoir completed 

 in 1957 at a cost of $4,800,000. This dam is an earth-fill and concrete structure. 

 It is 80 feet high above the bed of the river, is 1,790 feet long, and is crossed 

 by a 24-foot roadway. The reservoir is a V-shaped lake with a maximum depth 

 at the dam of 74 feet, and a surface area of 1,816 acres. 



All of these projects were built primarily for flood control on the Grand 

 River and the reservoirs have assisted materially in reducing the flood threat in 

 municipalities downstream. The three projects were financed jointly by the 

 Government of Canada (37i/2 per cent) the Government of Ontario (37i/2 per 

 cent) and the benefiting municipalities (25 per cent). 



The Parks Assistance Act 



The Parks Assistance Act, which was passed in 1960, provides grants to 

 municipalities on a matching dollar for dollar basis up to a maximum grant of 

 $50,000 for the acquisition, planning and development of parks that are con- 

 sidered to be complementary to Provincial Parks. The principal requirements 



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