Quote:
Originally Posted by pblaauw
Parks Canada has been saying it's going to open George's Island to the public ever since I was in high school.
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It's too bad. I guess there's no real pressure to get it done -- it's been "any year now" for at least 10 years or so. If George's were opened up it would be a great tourist attraction, with excellent views of the city and harbour.
I would say that Halifax's public spaces are in general poorly maintained and managed. George's reminds me of McNab's, Point Pleasant Park, the Commons, and the Grand Parade. They are mostly neglected (often under the guise of "preservation"), except for when we see some ad hoc, typically uninspired addition (see the cinder block washroom huts on the North Common for an example). In particular there was a great opportunity for Point Pleasant after Juan and 9 years later it seems to have been almost entirely wasted.
A big part of the problem is that regional council doesn't invest in the core much, but another part of the problem is the "Friends of X" type of attitude that everything is best left the way it is. I'm pretty sure that there are people who would lobby to save an enormous sheep grazing ground in the middle of the city if that's what the Commons were still used for. The fact that such a site would be of no use to 99.9% of the city's inhabitants would not seriously enter into consideration.