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Dartmouth playground replacement could cost $100,000

 The popular downtown Dartmouth waterfront playground was destroyed by fire on Feb. 25. Halifax Regional Police say the suspects are still at large.  Jenny Gillis

The popular downtown Dartmouth waterfront playground was destroyed by fire on Feb. 25. Halifax Regional Police say the suspects are still at large. 

Published on March 5, 2013
Published on March 5, 2013
Colin Chisholm  RSS Feed

A popular place to play was destroyed by fire on Feb. 25 and Halifax Regional Police say the suspects are still at large.

The playground, located near Alderney Landing on the Dartmouth waterfront, was set ablaze around 5:30 p.m., with thick black smoke visible from parts of Halifax.

The costs to replace the playground is expected to be in the $100,000 range, but Dartmouth councillor Gloria McCluskey said HRM might not be on the hook for that.

"I called and learned that it will be covered by insurance," she said. "Also HRM had put in $45,000 to $30,000 in the budget this year to replace the boat part of the playground because it was in bad shape."

The boat was the part of the playground where the fire is said to have started.

The whole playground will be replaced, and McCluskey said she is hoping it will happen before the busy summer season.

"We will have to get at that as soon as possible because it's one of the most widely used playgrounds or play areas," she said.

McCluskey noted that this time of year isn't ideal for re-building the playground and that the city will focus on cleaning up the area for the time being. McCluskey said she's hoping for an even better playground to be built.

Cst. Pierre Bourdages, public information officer for Halifax Regional Police, said it was a very concerning event, given the time and place of the incident.

"Our investigators are following up on some leads, but there haven't been any arrests at this time," he said.

"This playground is used by children with disabilities, it's an accessible playground, so it's something that is no longer available to the kids until it is rebuilt," he said. "We do hope we catch the person responsible for that."

As of Monday, March 4, no suspects have been arrested. The police continue to canvass area surveillance video.

"There's only so much we can do to prevent these sort of things from happening," Bourdages said. "We cannot provide coverage to every single playground, but our officers are keeping in mind that there are other playgrounds around the city and if there are people there at night when they shouldn't be, then we will follow up on that."

colin.andrew.chisholm@gmail.com Twitter - @ColinHFX

 

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