Dartmouth development could stretch for kilometres along waterfront

The weather was dark and dreary on Thursday, but according to area councillor Sam Austin, the future of downtown Dartmouth, N.S., is looking bright.

“HRM is taking a look at this whole section of waterfront going all the way from downtown to the Woodside Ferry Terminal to see what might be possible,” says Austin.

A waterfront plan was approved at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Included is a mix of residential and commercial development, trails and open spaces and a cruise ship terminal.

“Cruise brings with (it) economic benefits and places like downtown Dartmouth (have) a lot to offer in terms of this traditional main street and great green spaces,” Austin says.

“We’re ready. We’re totally ready to do what Halifax has done,” says Allana Dowlie, who has operated a downtown business for 25 years.

Dowlie started with a table at the market and she says further expansion could happen along with the revitalization plan.

“Hopefully, we’ve talked about it. What we’d like to do is obviously have a bigger store,” she says.

Tim Rissesco, CEO of the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission, is excited by the plan.

“We want to have the best waterfront that we can have for the community,” says Rissesco. “A redeveloped Dartmouth waterfront would work for the citizens of Dartmouth and all of HRM. It would be a place where people would want to gather, people would do recreational activities and places where people would want to live.”

As for a timeline, Rissesco says all this could be complete within five-to-10 years, including the brand-new cruise ship terminal.

“I think we’re looking at something fairly rapid for this kind of thing. It could happen over the next five years. I know there is incredible pressures on the Port Of Halifax to find cruise ship berths whether it’s here in downtown Dartmouth or somewhere else on the waterfront,” he says. 

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