What happens to Shannon Park now that a CFL stadium won’t be built on the site?

The notion of building a Halifax-area stadium in Shannon Park is dead.

So where does that leave a previously proposed multi-year, mixed-use project destined for the site, a former military housing district razed in the name of redevelopment?

A proposal was submitted to city hall three years ago. It’s subject to the municipality’s planning procedures.

The planned redevelopment of the Dartmouth locale was put on hold during the time it took to consider the stadium idea, a Halifax Regional Municipality spokesman said recently.

Although there have been community meetings about how the property should be developed, more public input will be necessary prior to the start of construction.

Then, if a development agreement is approved, “Canada Lands (Company) will be able to develop roads and parks and carry out its plans to sell development sites to various developers,” municipal spokesman Brendan Elliott said Tuesday.

Canada Lands Company is a federal Crown corporation overseeing the proposed refurbishment of Shannon Park, situated between the MacKay Bridge and Tufts Cove. It’s an old Department of National Defence site dating back to 1949.

The district is now mostly a collection of vacant lots, except for an elementary school, parking areas and a looped walking trail and harbour lookout that opened in 2017.

Baby blue banners calling attention to future development cover a chain-link fence that’s on a section of the area.

Elliott said part of the development agreement application process includes the municipality hosting “a standard public information meeting to consult with the community.” Asked when that might take place, he said the timing varies.

A public meeting is typically held “within two to three months after receiving a completed (development agreement) application,” said Elliott. He said there’s usually “some back and forth” between a proponent, such as Canada Lands, and city hall before a meeting is scheduled.

“This public feedback will inform the contents of the development agreement that will ultimately be presented for review … to the Harbour East-Marine Drive Community Council,” Elliott told HalifaxToday.ca via email.

There’s more opportunity for public comments through the community council process, he said.

An element of the redevelopment project is to include an Indigenous-led plan, as about 3.6 hectares at Shannon Park have been transferred to the Millbrook First Nation as an addition to its reserve land.

Canada Lands hosted public meetings in 2015 and 2016 as part of a master-planning exercise covering the potential future of Shannon Park. CBC News reported in the spring of 2016 the preferred concept would see the area developed in four phases.

Up to 3,000 residential units could be built over 10 to 15 years, CBC said, in such dwellings as townhouses, mid-rise structures and high-rises. New roads and services will have to be put in place.

Elliott said the submission three years ago from Canada Lands “helped shape the comprehensive development district design guidelines for Shannon Park that are now part of the (municipality’s) recently approved Centre Plan.”

A spokesperson for Canada Lands Company couldn’t be reached.

Canada Lands’ consultation process didn’t toss up a proposed stadium as a desired component of Shannon Park’s redevelopment, although the company was willing to work with the stadium’s proponents – providing certain conditions were met.

On Dec. 10, Halifax council voted 10-7 to allow the stadium proposal to proceed, but not at Shannon Park. Municipal staff said the place wasn’t suitable, citing poor access to public transportation as a key concern.

Council agreed to dish out $20 million to the business group planning a 24,000-seat sports-and-entertainment venue, and hoping for a Canadian Football League franchise, provided a new site is found and certain conditions are met.

The money would be paid after substantial construction work on the proposed project is done.

In a letter to his constituents a few days after council’s vote on the stadium issue, the local councillor and a vocal supporter of the development indicated the planned $20-million payout and other related matters are not etched in stone.

“This (Dec. 10) vote does not confirm we will be spending the $20 million,” Coun. Tony Mancini (Harbourview-Burnside-Dartmouth East) said in the letter.

“There will still be a final vote to confirm (council’s) commitment and the contribution agreement.”

Michael Lightstone is a freelance reporter living in Dartmouth