HRM removes kitchen facility under construction in Meagher Park

Halifax Regional Municipality has removed a partially built structure at Meagher Park. Park residents say it was being built to serve as a kitchen.

Residents said facility was being built to keep food clean, but city says it was illegal structure

CBC News · Posted: Feb 27, 2022 5:44 PM EST | Last Updated: February 27, 2022

HRM officials say they demolished an 'illegal structure' at Meagher Park that was being built to house a kitchen for park residents. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)

A structure that was being built to serve as a kitchen in Halifax's Meagher Park was removed by the Halifax Regional Municipality on Saturday.

A number of people have been living in tents and wooden structures in the park in the city's west end since last August. People living and volunteering there have dubbed it the People's Park.

A news release from the municipality said the structure was "illegal and unsafe."

According to the release, police visited the site and determined that the structure was being built to serve as a cooking facility for park occupants.

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Because of safety risks, the release states, the people building it were asked to remove it. When it wasn't removed voluntarily, municipal employees began removing it, the release said.

The municipality said no other items, like shelters or food, were removed and no fines were issued by municipal staff, the release states.

Demolition live streamed

A person live streaming on Twitter from the scene showed video of the structure before it was demolished, and a police officer explaining to residents why it had to be taken down.

Live streaming from the location later on, the same Twitter user showed municipal staff demolishing the structure.

She begs them to stop and an officer asks her to step back so she would not be hit by flying debris.

The woman said they spent $1,000 and two months putting the structure together. Please note that the language used in this Tweet may be offensive to some.