George's Island might soon be open to the Public

[fenwick16]

This sounds like great news. This would provide a great view of the city and be an interesting place to visit as a past military fortification. http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1164271.html

"One of the planned Nova Scotia projects is to open Georges Island to visitors coming to Halifax on cruise ships. The work on the island, located in the middle of the harbour, will include a new dock and washroom facilities.

Georges Island became a Parks Canada historic site in 1965.

"Georges Island is of interest to cruise ships," Mr. Prentice said.

"We’ve seen significant changes in tourism here with the frequency of cruise ships (in Halifax’s harbour)."

[haligonia]

thanks for starting this thread, fenwick16
Does the restoration work they are currently doing on the island include a dock and washrooms, or are these ideas just a proposal?

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by haligonia

thanks for starting this thread, fenwick16
Does the restoration work they are currently doing on the island include a dock and washrooms, or are these ideas just a proposal?

I should have included more of the article. It states that $3.5 million has been allocated so it seems like it is a definite plan and includes "a new dock and washroom facilities"

"The federal investments for Nova Scotia’s parks include $10,443,000 for the Cabot Trail, $4 million for repairs to buildings at the Halifax Citadel, $3.5 million for Georges Island, $2 million for Fort McNab and $1 million for the Fortress of Louisbourg.

Mr. Prentice said the projects in Nova Scotia’s parks were carefully selected and are reflective of the priorities of attracting tourism and preserving historical sites across the province.

He said the recent investment is the largest amount of funding for Parks Canada in a generation.

One of the planned Nova Scotia projects is to open Georges Island to visitors coming to Halifax on cruise ships. The work on the island, located in the middle of the harbour, will include a new dock and washroom facilities.

Georges Island became a Parks Canada historic site in 1965.

"Georges Island is of interest to cruise ships," Mr. Prentice said.

"We’ve seen significant changes in tourism here with the frequency of cruise ships (in Halifax’s harbour)."

Michael Noonan, spokesman for the provincial Tourism, Culture and Heritage Department, said he is feeling positive about the federal government’s investment in the province’s parks infrastructure.

"It makes us able to market Nova Scotia as a visitor destination," said Mr. Noonan.

"We recognize the value of portraying Nova Scotia as an interesting, historical destination for visitors."

[pnightingale]

I hope they don't plan to open George's Island only to cruise ship passengers....

[ZET]

Originally Posted by pnightingale

I hope they don't plan to open George's Island only to cruise ship passengers....

I expect that it would be available to whoever would pay the ferry to get there. I was there during the summer one weekend that it was open. Very nice. Sort of like taking a ferry to dartmouth, looking around a bit and ferry back. Good way to see both sides of the harbour. ZET

[Dr SweetLove]

this is definatly BALLIN, I will take mah woman there for a summertime pick nic, an afternoon DE_LITE no doubt

[tribeachpunk]

What is the plan to shuttle people back and forth?

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by tribeachpunk

What is the plan to shuttle people back and forth?

I know of talk that had occured with HRM transportation to build a ferry dock there so the Woodside ferry could stop there - that was one concept that had been considered. Also a couple smaller shuttle boats from near the Ferry Terminal in Halifax.

[tribeachpunk]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

I know of talk that had occured with HRM transportation to build a ferry dock there so the Woodside ferry could stop there - that was one concept that had been considered. Also a couple smaller shuttle boats from near the Ferry Terminal in Halifax.

Wouldn't be kind of a hassle if it was a stop en route to the other side of the harbour..?

Seems like a costly venture to provide public transport... Private shuttles make sense to me...

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by tribeachpunk

Wouldn't be kind of a hassle if it was a stop en route to the other side of the harbour..?

Seems like a costly venture to provide public transport... Private shuttles make sense to me...

Well that was one of the issues of that idea - if memory serves. Plus considering that ferry only ran during peak hours; you'd then need money to pay for staff and operating costs outside those hours (which wouldn't be budgetted for).

[-Harlington-]

i read somewhere on the HRM website that they want to make more woodside trips and times and i always thought that a georges island stop wouldnt be to bad since when your on that ferry you could jump to it pretty much, i hope if they make the eastren passage ferry that they do the same with mcnabs island.
the harbour is very underutilized and should be more friendly to the public.

[someone123]

I doubt they'd make stops at rush hour, but even so the Woodside option doesn't make a ton of sense. They could do a little ferry from Bishop's Landing or something.

[tribeachpunk]

Originally Posted by someone123

They could do a little ferry from Bishop's Landing or something.

That sounds reasonable to me

[Keith P.]

I don't know where this discussion belongs -- but it isn't in this section. Could a mod relocate it?

[fenwick16]

This is a real development with funding allocated ($3.5 million) for development. Most likely the ferry will be located in downtown Halifax so Halifax Peninsula and Downtown Dartmouth seemed like a logical place to put it.

[-Harlington-]

they should put a cord to pull like on the bus ,lol
next stop georges island
and this would probly fit better in the transportation and infustrucure thread

[hfx_chris]

I think it should just be private ferries. The guy who does the trips to McNabs from Eastern Passage could do Georges as well. It makes zero sense to have Metro Transit servicing it. In fact, it makes less than zero sense. The amount of sense is somewhere in the negative values. Like, -6/10.

As far as the island being opened, personally I think it's a mistake. I mean it's not like McNabs where you can go and spend a weekend, 30 minutes and you've seen everything Georges' has to offer.

[fenwick16]

I think that being able to go the island and see everything in a short length of time will be considered to be a positive point to many, since some won't have hours to spare. I wonder if they could open the light house to visitors? That would be one more attraction. One more attraction would be whale and dolphin watching (I have never seen any in the harbour but I have seen pictures taken of whales and dolphins in the Halifax Harbour).

I have heard that McNabbs Island is full of snakes. Are they just small garter snakes?

[-Harlington-]

it would be great to be opened, i would go
great view, great history it might be about an hour trip and that good enough
and fenwick, georges island is the one with snakes. It has the most per capita or something and they are harmless i believe

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by -Harlington-

it would be great to be opened, i would go
great view, great history it might be about an hour trip and that good enough
and fenwick, georges island is the one with snakes. It has the most per capita or something and they are harmless i believe

Tourists probably won't like the snakes. I just read that garter snakes like water ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_snake ). This might be a dumb question to anyone who is knowledgeable about snakes, but are they in the water and landing on Georges Island or do they primarily live and breed on the Island. If they mainly live and breed on the island then it shouldn't be too difficult to reduce the population. If they are coming out of the water then that would make them far more difficult to control.