Shannon Park

With the former military housing community of Shannon Park recently changing hands, it seemed like a good opportunity to tour it's dilapidated remnants. Canada's Department of National Defence handed the area off to the Canada Lands Corporation for potential redevelopment. That was strong indication that the Military Police who were once diligently looking out for trespassers, and worse, may not be as interested in Shannon Park as they once were.

A brief background on Shannon Park. The name comes from the HMS Shannon, a British Royal Navy frigate that captured the USS Chesapeake during the War of 1812. The park was built in the 1950s to solve a decades old shortage of military housing in the city. The community was shuttered in 2004, it's residents moved to Willow Park on peninsular Halifax.

We approached the park from the shoreline beneath the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, or if you're from Halifax, the new bridge.

Some of the former Canadian Forces housing structures inside the park...

Courtyards, complete with Walking Dead-esque playgrounds.

The building interiors were all more or less the same - wrecked. Destroyed by a combination of weather damage and illegal metal scrapping. Anywhere there was pipe to steal, it's been stolen.

Air quality inside the buildings was poor. With the buildings being so 'cookie cutter' you really only need to step foot inside one, to see them all. The only real exception to that is the Administration Building. It's layout is different than that of the ordinary housing throughout the park.