PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Public Gardens to Open Doors on April 13th

(Wednesday, March 30, 2011) - Residents and visitors will soon be able to once again enjoy the beauty and charm of Halifax Public Gardens. This year the gates will open on Wednesday, April 13. The hours for the Gardens will run from 8 a.m. to dusk each day.

The Garden’s bandstand has been undergoing restoration over the past year and now the work is complete. “Friends of the Public Gardens” will be hosting a grand public celebration to re-open the bandstand on Victoria Day, May 23, 2011.

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. Uncommon Grounds coffee shop in Horticultural Hall will also be open for business on April 13.

In an effort to preserve the Gardens for future generations, we ask that visitors please respect the “no pets, no biking, no jogging” guideline. Visitors are also 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.

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