A stadium proposed for Shannon Park has been scuttled but a bustling community of 10,000 residents could be in the works for the northern Dartmouth location.
That long-delayed development plan could finally get off the ground in 2020.
“There have been lots of public consultations prior to all of this, concept plans that were discussed and debated and the community agreed upon one concept plan that entailed mixed-use, mid-rise townhouses, commercial green space and walking paths,” said Tony Mancini, the regional council representative for the Shannon Park area.
“They are going to proceed with that. I think there is maybe a development agreement that’s waiting to be presented, that is all ready to go.”
Canada Lands Company, a Crown corporation that manages and develops surplus military property, acquired the 33-hectare Shannon Park property on the Halifax Harbour from the federal defence department in 2014.
Canada Lands collaborated with the public to prepare a redevelopment plan that was presented in 2016 and included nearly seven hectares of green or public space and up to 3,000 housing units to be built over a 10- to 15-year period. The housing units would mix highrise and mid-rise buildings and townhouses.
Schooner Sports and Entertainment threw a temporary monkey wrench into the Canada Lands works when it settled on a six- to eight-hectare plot of land on the northeastern portion of Shannon Park for its preferred site for a community stadium that could accommodate a Canadian Football League team.
Municipal council earlier this month endorsed a staff recommendation for a one-time $20-million contribution to a stadium, but only if it were built on a site other than Shannon Park.
Chris Millier, the Canada Lands representative who has been handling the Shannon Park file, waived the opportunity to comment but Marcelo Gomez-Wiuckstern, vice-president of corporate communications for the Crown company in Toronto, said nothing much has changed with the 2016 Canada Lands concept plan.
“We initially made a submission a few years ago,” Gomez-Wiuckstern said. “Then, the idea of a community stadium was brought forward so everything was put on hold. Now we are back at the original plans that were submitted in 2016, which is with the city right now.”
Gomez-Wiuckstern said it’s up to the city to decide how fast they want to move forward.
Mancini said the municipal Centre Plan, the first phase of which was accepted by council in November, and the stadium issue had held up redevelopment in Shannon Park.
“I anticipate that we are going to see something from Canada Lands in the first quarter of 2020,” Mancini said.
He said there had been conversations with developers in the past but he didn’t know if Canada Lands and developers are still working on plans.
“The last plans were quite acceptable,” he said. “The other piece of it is Millbrook First Nation.”
The federal government retained 3.6 hectares of the original 39-hectare Shannon Park property and transferred it to the Millbrook band in response to a claim that the area was home to a number of aboriginal residents before they were displaced after the Halifax Explosion of 1917.
The Millbrook property is across Tufts Cove from the Nova Scotia Power generating plant. The band had been keen on buying additional land from Canada Lands for its proposed concept that includes duplexes, townhouses, condos, apartments, commercial interests, a marina and recreational space.
Millbrook Chief Bob Gloade could not be reached for comment Friday.
Ben Sivak, a principal planner with HRM, has said the municipality is well aware of the vulnerability of the Tufts Cove area and other locations to flooding and storm surges.
Sivak said the planning documents for the Shannon Park redevelopment started off with high-level direction that had not reached the detail stage for exact design of roads and buildings.
He said Canada Lands is looking at raising the land proposed for its development by bringing in fill.
The only building remaining on the site is the Shannon Park Elementary School but Canada Lands has said on its website that after receiving municipal approval for its plan, it will begin by installing roads and services and to market and sell serviced lots or blocks to buildings. The work will be included in infrastructure extension to enable development of the Millbrook lands, the site said.
“That was part of the concern with the stadium,” Mancini said. “There is quite a bit of infrastructure that has to be built. With the stadium model, the municipality would have to pay for it. With this model, Canada Lands or whoever the developer is, they would have to pay for it. We may get involved. There is a third ferry location identified there and that is another kettle of fish. That is yet to be determined.”
