METRO NEWS HALIFAX

Council seeking site for beach volleyball courts

2,000 tonnes of sand will be used for competition ‘I think it’s going to be a fantastic opportunity but time is of the essence here’: Coun. Sue Uteck

JENNIFER TAPLIN  METRO HALIFAX

Published: August 10, 2011 1:00 a.m.

Like sand through the hourglass, time is ticking on finding a site for 10 permanent beach-volleyball courts.

When the five-day FIVB junior world beach volleyball championships on the Halifax waterfront are over next month, Volleyball Nova Scotia will have 66 truckloads of sand on its hands.

They’ve been scouring HRM for sites for a permanent beach volleyball facility. And they need to pick one quick before the end of the month or it will cost nearly $30,000 to store the sand.

Coun. Jim Smith asked council yesterday to give direction to HRM staff to help nail down a site. The leading contender right now is near the Harbour East artificial turf sports fields on Commodore Drive in Dartmouth.

“They’re not looking for any cash or money for this, they’re just looking for a site,” Smith said.

Council approved his request.

“I think this is a wonderful legacy,” said Coun. Linda Mosher. “We could actually host national events when you have the ten courts together”

She said two possible sites by Cunard Junior High School and on Crown Drive were ruled out because of size restraints at Cunard and because a field would have had to be decommissioned at Crown Drive.

Work began in June for the FIVB competition on the waterfront’s Salter lot from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4.

Temporary courts
• The space between Bishop’s Landing and the Waterfront Warehouse is being transformed into six temporary beach-volleyball courts with plenty of spectator seating and a public beach for the championships.

• There will be a beer garden, patio seating and live music