Halifax wants to maintain Lake Banook as a ‘world class’ canoe park

In August 2022 Lake Banook in Dartmouth will host the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. Hundreds of athletes from over 70 countries will attend.

Dartmouth Centre Councillor Sam Austin told council on Tuesday that the park is in need of some upgrades before the event to bring it up to international standards.

“Two years away seems like a long time when you think of it, but in terms of organizing and events and government, it’s right around the corner,” he says.

Over the past decades Lake Banook has been home to several canoe and watersport championships, including events in 1987, 1999, and 2009.

But a staff report says that if we want to maintain the lake as a world class location and continue to have events in the coming years, the area around the lake is in need of some improvements.

“We are starting to fall behind in the venue arms race around the world,” Austin explained, comparing Halifax to places that have venues from Olympic games and other large events.

Council voted unanimously for Halifax CAO Jacques Dube to plan for a myriad of future upgrades to the park, including creating spectator seating on Silvers Hill, leveling the ground at Birch Cove Park for use as an athletes village, and upgrading the boardwalk along Prince Albert Rd.

The councillors also talked about creating a longer term ‘Master Plan’ for improvements to the venue. The current plan was created in 2007.

“The fear is that unless we really start to focus on this in terms of what is the master plan? What do we want as a sporting venue out of this? 2022 might be the last event of that caliber that we hold,” Austin said.

The estimated cost of the immediate improvements is $75,000, which is already included in the 2021/22 Capital Budget. However it would also include other upgrades that will be presented during the budget process over the next few months.

“There is a certain portion of this which is in a state of good repair, but when we look at the conditions of Silvers Hill, that is in a state of disrepair,” says Richard Harvey, Manager of Policy and Planning with HRM, although no exact figure was given. “You can foresee certain things of that scale that we’ll be repairing.”

HRM is also contributing $800,000 in the form of a Marketing Levy Special Events Grant, and owns the boathouse training facility that’s located on the lake and used for events like this.

After the vote, Mayor Savage spoke to his excitement surrounding the canoe championships.

“We have a great reputation for water sports but we’re coasting on it a little bit and other places are upping their game in a big way,” he says. “So it’s inevitable if we’re going to take advantage of the wonderful facilities we have, particularly on Lake Banook…we’re going to have to take a look at our infrastructure.”