About Our Local Area

Downtown Dartmouth

Downtown Dartmouth is the main business, banking and government office core of the Dartmouth area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. It is part of the Capital District of the Province.

Business and buildings

Located in downtown Dartmouth are the home of the Halifax Regional School Board (located in the former city hall of the former city of Dartmouth), Alderney Gate which houses a branch of the Halifax Public Libraries and other office space, the Alderney Landing market, gallery and theatre building, the 19-story highrise office building Queen Square, as well as the main branches of the Royal Bank of Canada and CIBC. Also in the area there several condominium highrise buildings. The La Perla Restaurant building on 73 Alderney Drive is the oldest commercial brick building on the Dartmouth side of the harbour. Downtown Dartmouth also features historic landmarks such as the Quaker Whaler House, one of the oldest buildings in Halifax Regional Municipality (open to the public seasonally) and Evergreen House, Victorian home to nationally acclaimed folklorist, Helen Creighton (open year round).

Transportation

Downtown Dartmouth is connected by ferry to downtown Halifax operated by Metro Transit from Alderney Landing. North America's oldest continually operating saltwater ferry service was started in 1752 by one man rowing customers across the harbour for three cents per trip. The three main streets are Alderney Drive (Trunk 7), Portland Street (Route 207), and Ochterloney Street. Along Alderney Drive is the CN railyard.

Parks

Ferry Terminal Park is the park space along the waterfront adjacent to the Dartmouth Ferry Terminal. In it resides the World Peace Pavilion, opened during the 1995 Halifax G7 Economic Summit. Conceived by Metro Youth for Global Unity, this structure contains stones and bricks donated by more than 70 countries, lying on a bed of Nova Scotian sand. Also within the Ferry Terminal Park is the huge bronze propeller from the CCGS John A. Macdonald, an icebreaker damaged during its 1969 journey through the Northwest Passage, as well as the inlaid granite compass rose in the park, which is a replica of the compass detail on a 1749 map of Halifax Harbour. Extending from Alderney Landing is the Events Plaza, a specially designed and equipped outdoor space for festivals and events. Eastern Front Theatre performs at Alderney Landing's theatre.

The Leighton Dillman Scenic Garden, named after a diligent voluntary keeper of the gardens, sits adjacent to Alderney Drive on a hillside of what is left of the Dartmouth Commons, approximately 300 acres (1.2 km²) set aside by the government in the late 18th century for the settlers' common use. Only a small portion of the Commons today remains.

Information and images courtesy of Wikipedia.com

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