This is what happened when personnel cuts were made in 2004. Shannon Park and Wallace Heights. Defense cuts in the late 90's saw some of the housing was made available on the civilian market in Wallace Heights. A friend of mine, serving in the forces at the time, lived there when this was starting to happen. Eventually all of Wallace Heights was made into civilian housing.
Shannon Park wasn't so lucky. The housing there was shut down as the military personnel were reduced. Those who weren't let go were relocated to military housing in Willow Park, Halifax. Shannon Park has pretty much sat empty since then. The High School became an Elementary School. The hockey rink is still used. Everything else is closed down.
The apartments that could house, I read 300 families, sat empty. There were plans to convert the area into an athletes village if Halifax got the Commonwealth games but that went the way of the dodo. Now, the area is a health hazard. The apartments can't be used due to mold. They are now a toxic mold health hazard.
What a waste! Think of all the people that could have benefited from the housing there. Instead it sat empty until it became uninhabitable.
Below are some photos I have took of the area, from the outside.
When the base in Calgary was shut down, the opposite happened. The developers moved in, and quite a few fancy new condos were erected. Some of the old B.O.Q.'s were re-modeled, and a military museum was put in. Most of the base buildings were taken over by various companies, and even Cirque De Soleil set up shop there for a while.
ReplyDeleteGovernment waste is all it is.
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