Scott+Ayre+2

The Cape Cod Canal, which was first finished in 1916, was intended to only serve as a quick, easy and safe way for ships to get from Cape Cod Bay to Buzzards Bay. The canal was a privately owned and operated until the government bought it and rebuilt it in 1933. It served as protection for ships from German U-Boats during both of the World Wars, and would cut 163 miles off of shipping routes. To me at least, I would not imagine such a place to be used by anything other than ships, let alone be considered as a “third place”. A “third place” can be defined as a location other than house or school/work that is a “hangout” spot. Now to some it may not be considered as such at first glance, but with the many parks, and the service roads along both sides of the canal I do. The one area in particular that I chose was the park built under the Railroad Bridge. The park itself isn’t all that big and serves as an access point to the service road, which runs the length of the canal. Both of the service roads are used by both tourists and locals alike as bike routes, access point for fishing, or just to go for a stroll. The Massachusetts Maritime Academy is located about a half mile away and the cadets there make use of the canal for their daily physical training. They are easily identified by their gray pt uniform with the words Mass Maritime across the chest. There are several restaurants located just outside of the park (within 2 minutes walking distance) and a bicycle rental shop. The restaurants include a bar, most likely geared towards the cadets, and diner geared more towards tourists or families looking for a fast lunch. During the summer and late fall the park is host to many local events such as scallop fest, weekly concerts, and even a small amusement fair that comes around once a year. It is no larger than a regulation football field, and the parking lot is in fact larger than the park itself. The park is void of trees, and when it’s not hosting any events, have only a few benches and one gazebo. This may be because the Army Corps of Engineers (which are the caretakers of the canal) assume more people will make use of the canal service roads than the park itself. Parents bring their children to the park for picnics, or just to play. There is one man in particular who happened to be there both times I went to the park to make my observations. He had his two children who seemed to be around the age of seven and their dog. While the children ran around the field with the dog yelling and screaming he was there with his laptop doing what I assumed to be work. This to me seems kind of strange because most all of the houses in the area have their own backyards, so I think I can safely assume that he lives in one of the few apartment complexes nearby. Upon my first arrival to the park it smelled strongly of fish. Once I got over to the part of the park nearest to the canal I found out why. There was a group of men all in a row about five feet from each other fishing and each had what appeared to be a striper. My father, for example, uses the park as a meeting place for his buddies to enjoy a day of salt water fishing to escape the daily grind. I do not want to say that only older men use the park; however there seems to always be more of them there. Only on the second time I was there however, did the Railroad Bridge located just a few feet from the park, actually have to lower. When this was starting to occur happened to be the busiest time for the small park. Normally there are about ten or so people hanging around the field and the bridge with many others making use of the service roads. The railroad bridge itself spans the canal to connect Cape Cod with the mainland, and due to ships of all shapes and sizes making use of the canal, has to be raised so that the ships may pass. The Coast Guard sends a boat about ten to fifteen minutes ahead of the train to ensure two things. They alert the passing ships are that the bridge is being lowered and also make sure that no ships try to fit underneath the bridge while it is lowered. The latter of the two can be because of several reasons including but not limited to security threats, and safety of the train and surrounding ships. The raising and lowering of the bridge seems to attract more families with small children than any other group of people.