The

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 ...

of Pleasantville in

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

is located in the east end of the city, directly north of the

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

. The neighbourhood extends from the north side of

Quidi Vidi Lake Quidi Vidi Lake is a long body of water located at the east end of the city of St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Local people commonly pronounce its name as ''kiddy viddy''. Water flows into the lake from the Rennies and Virginia Rivers, along wi ...

northward to Newfoundland Drive, and is largely made up of apartment blocks. A cricket field near Quidi Vidi Lake in Pleasantville served as a military training camp for the Blue Puttees of the Newfoundland Regiment during the month of September 1914, before troops left St. John's on the

SS Florizel SS is an abbreviation for ''Schutzstaffel'', a paramilitary organisation in Nazi Germany. SS, Ss, or similar may also refer to: Places *Guangdong Experimental High School (''Sheng Shi'' or ''Saang Sat''), China *Province of Sassari, Italy (vehi ...

. In addition, the men practiced skirmishes in an area just east of Quidi Vidi, known as White Hills. Pleasantville is home to a reserve base of the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

and the Country Ribbon meat processing plant, as well as the former site of the Janeway Children's Hospital, now demolished. It includes Bally Haly Country Club. Most of the area was developed by the United States Military in 1941 and is the former site of

Fort Pepperrell Pepperrell Air Force Base, previously known as Fort Pepperrell, is a decommissioned United States military base located in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada which operated from 1941 to 1961. The base was named in honour of Sir William Pepperr ...

, later

Pepperrell Air Force Base Pepperrell Air Force Base, previously known as Fort Pepperrell, is a decommissioned United States military base located in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada which operated from 1941 to 1961. The base was named in honour of Sir William Pepperre ...

. The base closed in 1960, and in 1961 the land was transferred to the Canadian Government for use by the

Department of National Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

. Many of the buildings the US Military constructed in the area have since been either demolished or turned into government offices or residential units. The former American junior and senior high school building, initially opened for the 1956-57 school year, has been converted into condominiums. Pleasantville is now being redeveloped by

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 managin ...

(CLC) into a residential neighbourhood.

Redevelopment

In 2006, Canada Lands Company, a federal

Crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

, acquired the federal government's portion of the land with the plan to redevelop the area into a residential neighbourhood. After public consultations CLC applied to the city to construct 958 residential units and 5800 sq. m of commercial space. The residential units will include single family homes, townhouses, duplexes, multi-story units and an assisted living complex. The development also included a $101 million upgrade to the Canadian Forces Station which is located onside of the residential development. The city council approved the proposal in 2009, and progress began in 2010 on the redevelopment. As of August 2012, construction includes the new Department of National Defense building, a new luxury apartment building, and a variety of condominiums."Former Fort Pepperell site to be cleaned"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', November 22, 2011.

References

{{coord, 47, 35, 16, N, 52, 40, 50, W, display=title Neighbourhoods in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Populated coastal places in Canada

Redevelopment

See also

References