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Shannon Park isn't very accessible to the public, no one can walk to it, bike to it, the bus route isn't very convenient, taking a taxi from anywhere in the city would cost a lot and there are no establishments to support a crowd of people coming and going. The only supportive argument for it is that the land is vacant and its relatively accessible by car. If its going to be a multi purpose stadium and used to host concerts ect... Young people aren't going to want to go out to Shannon Park no mater wart band is playing so right there you have one alternative use for the venue thrown out the door
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All this is thinking of Shannon Park as it currently is. As Someone123 stated, a fair amount of re-development would have to take place, and the first thing on the docket would be infrastructure to make that area easier to get to.
I think there's more pros here than you state. The main reason it's inconvenient isn't that it's so far away, it's just that Halifax isn't yet of the size that Shannon Park is particularly central. But, think ahead: If Halifax became twice its size, Shannon Park isn't going to be a terribly far distance away from the current center of downtown. It's certainly a heck of a lot closer than Ottawa's Stadium.
Furthermore, the stadium itself would become a draw for people, and a cause to re-develop the area. There'd be a lot of landscaping and new roadways to properly connect coming off the bridge to the stadium. Thinking ahead, the Dartmouth sides of BOTH bridges are likely destined to become transportation hubs if a public transit system is ever built, be it subway or the far more likely LRT. Currently it's only really the MacDonald serving as a hub, but in the long term the Mackay will be one as well. Placing the Stadium beneath the Mackay might actually look nicer, and even be more sensible in the long term than even putting it in the North End.
Shannon Park, I think, is only far from Downtown Halifax in Halifax terms. Thinking of the distance in Calgary or even Ottawa terms and it, I think, doesn't seem nearly as far.
If you were to take the most optimal route, from Shannon Park to Downtown Halifax is about 5.8 k. In Toronto terms I think it's about the distance of Front St. to St. Clair, given that it's almost entirely a straight line (I think the distance as the crow flies in Halifax would be a fair bit shorter than 5.8 k).