Shannon Park is an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

and former national defence site in the north end of Dartmouth on the eastern shore of

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbo ...

in the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

(HRM) in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is immediately south of the A. Murray MacKay Bridge in the community of Dartmouth. It straddles Highway 111, a

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

freight line, and Halifax Harbour. It is bordered on the south by

Tuft's Cove Tufts Cove is an urban neighbourhood in the community of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the North End of Dartmouth. The neighbourhood boundaries of Tufts Cove are approximately from Albr ...

History

Shannon Park, along with the adjacent former national defence site of Wallis Heights, housed the families of personnel serving with the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

. It was built in the 1950s to remedy the shortage of housing which plagued sailors and their families in Halifax during World War Two. The community was named after ''HMS Shannon'', the Halifax-based frigate which won a notable victory in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. With defence cutbacks reducing the number of personnel serving in the navy and expanded housing available on the civilian market, Shannon Park and Wallis Heights were closed in 2004 and remaining residents were moved to military housing at Willow Park. All buildings have been demolished as of 2018. Immediately north of the neighbourhood on the Bedford basin adjacent to the MacKay bridge lies the

Bedford Institute of Oceanography The Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) is a major Government of Canada ocean research facility located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. BIO is the largest ocean research station in Canada. Established in 1962 as Canada's first, and currently la ...

, a

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues ...

communication centre, and a

Canadian Food Inspection Agency The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA; french: Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments) is a regulatory agency that is dedicated to the safeguarding of food, plants, and animals (FPA) in Canada, thus enhancing the health and well-being of ...

laboratory. Until the HRM withdrew its bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, urban planners envisioned Shannon Park to be used for locating the proposed sports stadium, athletes' village and several additional venues. Disposal of the land is being negotiated between National Defence and the

Canada Lands Company Canada Lands Company Limited (french: La Société immobilière du Canada) is a self-financing federal Crown corporation reporting to the Parliament of Canada through Public Services and Procurement Canada. The company is responsible for managi ...

crown corporation.

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

from the Millbrook Reserve near

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

have applied for a portion of the land. Shannon Park now has a French immersion school. Although unused, Shannon Park remains part of

CFB Halifax Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT). I ...

. The Department of National Defence disposed of Shannon Park in three pieces.

Present

In 2014, the Canada Lands Company (CLC) bought approximately of land, at a cost of $4 million. Also in 2014, the CLC bought of land that includes an elementary school, at a cost of $313,000. Another approximately was transferred to Indigenous Services Canada, to then be transferred to Millbrook First Nation. The Millbrook First Nation has an outstanding land claim on a portion known as Turtle Cove, which was the site of a former Mi'kmaq settlement. A stadium for the

Atlantic Schooners The Atlantic Schooners were a conditional Canadian Football League (CFL) expansion team that was to begin play in 1984 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. However, team ownership could not secure funding for a stadium and the franchise application was w ...

, the proposed

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

franchise, has been discussed as a location. As of 16 May 2021, there are plans to develop the of land to eventually have 3,000 residential units.

References

{{Communities of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Communities in Halifax, Nova Scotia Former populated places in Nova Scotia Urban decay in Canada Canadian Armed Forces Military history of Nova Scotia Naval history of Canada Dartmouth, Nova Scotia