Two Halifax-area parks run by two different volunteer and non-profit groups have decided to close their parks at dusk to prevent vandalism and safety issues. The Cole Harbour Kiwanis Beach and Park Morris Lake put up new signage this week stating: “No admittance to this park from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.” The move comes after illegal activities were taking place in the park at night. “It’s the amount of people there, music going in the middle of the night. A lot of gatherings, loud noises, parties and actually fighting and disturbing neighbours, someone trying to break into the neighbours’ garage,” says Jerry Ryan, president of the Kiwanis Club of Cole Harbour-Westphal. “When I heard the feedback from everybody about police and ambulance being there at 2 a.m. we definitely said immediately we will close the gates.” Ryan isn’t sure who’s doing it or if it’s just one group of people, but he says one serious incident in particular sparked the early closure. He received feedback from neighbours who said kids have been gathering in the park night and police cruisers and ambulances were seen arriving around 2 a.m. “Our issue then became more of, not that they are gathering there and they need to be dispersed, it became violence happening beside the road, and I was informed that someone got assaulted there and chased down the road,” says Ryan. They have always locked one gate but left the second one open to the parking lot. Since the incident, Ryan felt locking both was the only option to protect the park. “So those types of incidents, as soon as we hear that type of stuff, that’s not what the community represents and absolutely not acceptable for the park to be accommodating anything like that,” says Ryan. Ryan hopes locking up at dusk will deter these behaviours. ‘They light them on fire’ This isn’t the only park in the Halifax area having to close at night. The Acadia Park and Community Centre in Lower Sackville is now closing its gate at 9 p.m. due to vandalism and increased safety concerns. “Our wooden picnic tables get totally destroyed and scratched on, people trying to etch their names or symbols, we get branches off of trees,” says Linda Hefler, director of the Acadia Recreation Club Society. Since opening the space in 2010, this is the second time they’ve had to lock their gates at night. The first time was three years ago due to vandalism and now the same issue is forcing them to close early again. Hefler says volunteers are finding people sleeping in the park, doing drugs on their back picnic tables, and damaging their property. “For instance, with the wooden picnic tables, when they are done destroying them, they light them on fire, so we have had the fire department down here and we get the police, we get a fair amount of vandalism,” says Hefler. The most recent incidents occurred three nights in a row, which is what prompted the early closure. “There were people in the park lighting off fireworks and, as you can see, we have a lot of greenery around here that can catch fire,” says Hefler. The team is looking into additional cameras and eventually hopes to put in more lights. For now, these volunteers say it’s disheartening and worrisome to see their spaces no longer being respected. “Everything in this park, the funds have either been raised or people have donated them. Every tree, picnic table, park bench, everything has been donated by people in Sackville. So, it could be your family member, your parents that have donated something here, and to have it destroyed is very disheartening,” says Hefler. The non-profits that run the parks are asking people to call police if they see anyone inside the parks outside of operating hours. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
