PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Public Gardens to Open Doors Early in 2010

(Wednesday, 31 March, 2010) - A sure sign that spring has returned is the opening of the Halifax Public Gardens. This year the gates will swing open three weeks earlier - Wednesday, April 14. The hours for the Gardens will run from 8 am to dusk each day. Two new Toulouse geese will join the garden’s resident fowl population. The new inhabitants are the same breed as the beloved “Mamma Goose” that lived in the Gardens for 20 years until her death in 2009.

While the birds are placed in the park for all to enjoy, visitors are reminded that they are not to feed the ducks because this can make them dependent on an unnatural food supply and interfere with their natural migratory patterns in the fall and spring. Visitors to the Gardens are encouraged to enjoy the space on a lunch hour, to stroll through the park area for exercise, or enjoy the free open-air concerts on Sundays during the summer.

One of the finest surviving examples of Victorian Gardens in North America, the Halifax Public Gardens began on Common land by the Nova Scotia Horticultural Society in 1836. The Gardens were recognized as a National Historic Site in 1984. For details on the gardens visit the website at www.halifaxpublicgardens.ca.

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Contact:
Shaune MacKinlay
HRM Public Affairs
490-6531

Bev MacPhail
Parks and Open Spaces
Transportation and Public Works
490-3995