Halifax is going to have to dig itself out of an embarrassing blunder. Old bleachers, including some from the now-defunct Huskies Stadium, were buried as junk despite their considerable value.
Over the years, thousands of people used the seats at Huskies Stadium. When the stadium was dismantled, Saint Mary’s University returned the bleachers to the city. But they were never supposed to end up buried.
“They were meant to be disassembled and the metal sent to a recycling facility,” said city spokesperson Tiffany Chase. “Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication with our staff, they were improperly sent to the disposal site that we have at Turner Drive.”
That doesn’t sit well with Richard Marriot. The Halifax contractor immediately spotted the value in the scrap metal.
“We're asked to recycle everything, and here they go throwing it all out,” Marriot said.
At least one popular event says they could have made use of the bleachers. With the Halifax International Busker Festival in full swing once again, scores of people wandering the waterfront are advised to bring their own seating.
“We searched high and low, calling the universities, the City of Moncton, the exhibitions from Windsor to P.E.I.,” said Kim Hendrickson, one of the festival’s organizers. “We were unable to source bleachers to bring them to the festival this year.”
The transportation depot on Turner Drive is not a landfill, although certain items are disposed of there.
“Why don't they take it to the scrapyard, turn it in for steel and collect the thousands of dollars they would have gotten for it?” Marriot asked.
Now, city crews will have to dig up the old seating to try to make things right.
“Now that we've determined the error that took place, we are going to be removing the metal from that location, separating out any material that should be recycled, and sending it to the proper facility,” said Chase.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko
