Halifax Common - Facilities

Facilities

The North Common contains several soft ball diamonds, and a large fountain near the centre. It is larger than the Central Common, and is much more empty and open, making it suitable for organized sporting and recreation events. A public washroom was recently built on Cunard St.

The Central Common has more large fields, tennis courts, a soccer field, an outdoor city-owned swimming pool, skateboarding facilities, and a smaller fountain.

Playgrounds were recently replaced on the Central Common, because of concerns due to toxicity levels in the soil beneath the playground. Arsenic from playground wood that had been treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA, which has since been discontinued in playground use in Halifax) had leached from the playground wood, into the soil.

Near the Cogswell street side of the Common is The Halifax Pavilion. The Pavilion is an all ages venue that showcases many different genres of music.

A portion of the Halifax Common has been temporarily converted into a 400-metre oval track, to host speed skating events in the Canadian Masters Championships, January 15 - 16, 2011 and the 2011 Canada Games, February 11-27, 2011. The oval is slated to be removed in March 2011. After initial delays opening, caused by unseasonably warm temperatures in HRM, the oval opened to tremendous response from the community. Hundreds of people have come out each day, for free skating, with some estimates placing attendance as high as 2000 people in a single day. Due to the overwhelming response, former Halifax mayor Peter Kelly called for the fixture to be made permanent. District 12 Counsellor Dawn Sloane agreed that the venue is very popular and called for studies on the long term costs of operating a permanent facility.

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