The site of the former Queen Elizabeth High School in Halifax was originally supposed to become a community garden at the end of the month, but it looks like the only thing that will be growing is the frustration of Haligonians.

The province of Nova Scotia ordered the school to be torn down six months ago, but the pile of partly-demolished rubble and brick has been sitting at the corner of Robie Street and Bell Road for months.

Now it seems the demolition has hit another snag. The province has cancelled its contract with the original company set to demolish the school, and local residents say they're sick of staring at the eyesore.

"It's awful, it's definitely something that needs to come down," says area resident Dawn Shillington. "They can't leave that."

The province cancelled its contract with Demolition Resources Limited and it says it's actively searching for a new contractor.

"It's become clear that the agreed upon timelines were not going to be met," says Cathy MacIsaac, a spokeswoman with the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation.

"We're going to take the few days to explore our options about how we can get someone in to do it as quickly as we can, but also as efficiently as we can, because we are very conscious that these are taxpayer dollars."

The province says it will do everything it can to ensure it doesn't exceed the $2.1 million budget that was originally agreed upon.

It also says that while there is still a lot of work to be done at the site, it isn't as bad as it looks, and that most of the interior has already been demolished.

But some area residents worry the eyesore, which is located across the street from a popular park on one side and a hotel on the other, could have long-term effects on the city's economy.

"Especially in the summertime," says area resident Karen Beaton. "We have tourists coming to visit and it looks really bad."

The province says Demolition Resources Limited will be paid for the work it has done to date. The company did not return calls made by CTV Atlantic.

It's not clear at this point when the demolition will continue at the site.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Alyse Hand