Shannon Park is an urban

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

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 har ...

in the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

(HRM) in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. 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 () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

freight line, and Halifax Harbour. It is bordered on the south by Tuft's Cove.

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; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. 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 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. 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, a Canadian Coast Guard communication centre, and a

Canadian Food Inspection Agency The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA; ) 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 Canada's people, environment and economy. The age ...

laboratory. Until the HRM withdrew its bid for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, 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 crown corporation.

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

from the Millbrook Reserve near

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

have applied for a portion of the land. Shannon Park now has a

French immersion French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French- immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects ...

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 (military), formation Maritime Forces At ...

. 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 proposed

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

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.

Transportation

Shannon Park can be reached by Halifax Transit bus route "51 Windmill", which connects to the Bridge Terminal. In the past, route 51 travelled into Shannon Park (via Nootka Avenue), but buses now stop on Windmill Road only. The municipal government's Rapid Transit Strategy (adopted in 2020) proposes to establish a new ferry route connecting Shannon Park to downtown Halifax.

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