New Cole Harbour park would include off-leash dog park, disc golf

Plans for a new Cole Harbour park would see an off-leash dog area, mountain bike trails and a disc golf course, but with no funds committed to the project it's unclear when work could begin.

After two rounds of online surveys with residents, Halifax municipal staff came up with the Rehab Lands Park Plan as a roadmap for what the 20.4-hectare site of the former Halifax County Rehab Centre lands could look like. The area also once served as a set for the television show Trailer Park Boys.

Key features of the lands include frontage on Bissett Lake, hilltop views of the surrounding coastal area and wooded sections that would mostly be left natural. There would also be picnic areas, new trails, a meadow, a lake pier, and sledding hill.

"I was thrilled. I thought staff did a really good job at taking all of the concerns and the suggestions of the community, and they have created an amazing scope of activities and meditative options for people," area Coun. Trish Purdy told CBC News Monday.

"The scenery is just breathtakingly beautiful no matter where you look."

A meditation labyrinth is also in the plan, an idea which the report said came directly from the public as a way to allow reflection and introspection on the site's history. The rehab centre was a psychiatric hospital operating from 1941 to 2002.

The city's community planning and economic development standing committee met last Thursday to hear about the plans.

Former councillor and area MLA Lorelei Nicoll told the committee she's in favour of the park plan moving ahead, saying she was happy to finally see progress years after she argued to keep the lands from being sold off for development.

Nicoll said back in 2016 when Halifax council declared the area as parkland, she often heard from former employees about the importance of honouring the "forgotten people" who had lived at the rehab centre.

Just two weeks before Const. Heidi Stevenson was killed by the gunman in the Nova Scotia mass shooting of April 2020, Nicoll said she heard from Stevenson about the property.

"She said, 'In this day and age, mental-health is critical and to have a space like that for residents to go to is very important,'" Nicoll recalled.

After several years as a rented film set, the rehab centre's vacant buildings were demolished, or destroyed by fire, and the site began remediation in 2010, according to the plan.

Carolle Koziak Roberts, landscape architect and city staff member, told the committee she couldn't speak to a timeline for the park's three phases quite yet. She said the parks department will assess next year how much funding they could put toward it "based on all our other park priorities."

But Coun. Tim Outhit told the committee he was worried this would become another nice vision "that sits on the shelf." He said there are already other beautification, streetscaping and "visioning" plans around Halifax Regional Municipality that have yet to get started.

"Without a funding source, or without a timeline for a budget, you're setting expectations in your community … you can't really look them in the eye right now, councillor, and tell them if this is going to happen a year from now or 15 years from now," Outhit said, in response to Purdy.

Purdy agreed Monday "that's a real concern," but is hopeful at least the first phase of the park could see detailed designs and action next year.

Phase 1 would include the sledding hill, new trails, tree planting and parking lot. Phase 2 would see the off-leash dog park and disc golf, while Phase 3 would add and signs highlighting local history.

Staff had suggested selling off two small parcels of land to help fund some changes, but the committee voted against that approach for now. Purdy said the park could expand into those areas with more bike trails or disc golf, so she'd like to see the areas reserved for parkland.

The committee agreed to send the plan ahead to regional council at a later date.

There is currently a paved multi-use trail through the site from Bissett Road to the trail system in Colby Village and Bissett Park, which opened in 2019.