Long-term care facility development sparks criticism from Ward One residents in New Glasgow, N.S.

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — Some residents in New Glasgow are upset about the placement of a new long-term care home.

A large crowd formed outside of New Glasgow town hall the evening of Jan. 15. Members of the Black community and supporters joined together to voice their concerns about the new long-term care (LTC) facility to be built over a portion of a playground in the historically Black neighborhood on Vale Road.

Activist and author Angela Bowden gave a presentation at the council meeting regarding the issue.

“This is a cultural space that we have enjoyed in our community for decades and it is of great significance to our health and wellness,” Bowden said during her presentation. “This news hit the wounds of every Black citizen from the Black community of the Glasgow.”

On Jan. 9, members from New Glasgow town council met with board members of the Ward One Community Centre. During the meeting that lasted just shy of two hours, the town announced the plans to build a LTC facility in the wooded property adjacent to the community centre and the playground.

“This is a cultural space that we have enjoyed in our community for decades and it is of great significance to our health and wellness. The board rejected this decision unanimously,” Bowden continued. “We are not against a long term care facility being built. We just don’t want it built in that location.”

Although the majority of the playground would remain untouched, the LTC facility would take up a portion of the soccer field at the ward one playground, changing the size and direction of the current field.

Voicing concerns

In a separate interview after the Jan. 15 council meeting, Bowden described the feelings of the citizens of the Black community as angry and hopeless.

“I was met with messages from people who were so angry and people who had just given up,” she said. “The way the town went about telling us made it seem like it was a done deal. It felt very sneaky and unfair.”

These feelings were echoed by community members young and old.

“The feelings that we felt were not only current, but they dated right back to the forties,” Bowden said, referring to elders in the community who remember having to sit upstairs at the Roseland Theatre. “The youth who play on this playground every day were shattered.”

Brandy Borden is a teacher at a local elementary school and is a board member for the Ward One Community Centre. She attended their monthly meeting on Jan. 9 where representatives from the town came to announce the plans for the LTC facility to be build.

“Normally, if there’s a meeting at the center, we don’t have a huge crowd. But with this, we could tell people really cared and people wanted to speak out. We had 56 people show up,” Borden said.

She called seeing the community band together and show a united front “amazing.”

One of the largest concerns among community members is the increased traffic to the area.

“The playground will not be as safe as it is now. We won’t have as many kids going over to the playground, I know I won’t be comfortable letting my kids walk to the playground anymore,” Borden said.

Wayne Desmond, co-chair of the Black Gala Homecoming Committee, and site coordinator at the Black Education Association, echoed the concerns about increased traffic.

“People zoom up and down that road as it is, with it being one of the main access points for North Nova (Education Centre),” he said.

Desmond then gave an example of children playing in the area during dinner time when more traffic is to be expected from people traveling home from work, and an accident occurring.

“Are we gonna be a society that’s proactive or reactive, because to me, if something is predictable, it is preventable,” he said.

Reliving history

Bowden says this is not the first time the Vale Road has been subject of discussion among the Town of New Glasgow.

One example includes an instance in 1968. Carrie Best, an activist, author, and co-founder of The Clarion, one of the first newspapers in Nova Scotia owned and published by a Black Canadian, was reading the local newspaper when she noticed properties advertised for non-payment of taxes. Out of the 16 properties listed, 10 of them belonged to Black property holders between Granville Street and Vale Road.

Rumors had been going around there was to be more industrial growth in the south end of New Glasgow. Best investigated further. She published her findings in her weekly column in the paper and then brought her concerns to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

Looking forward

Bowden says that while she doesn’t speak for the entire Black community of New Glasgow, she has heard from a lot of members.

“There were no clear answers as to how there was no accountability to the lack of consideration of the impact this would have on our community,” she said.

Bowden believes this is an issue of not understanding the history between the Black community and the Town of New Glasgow.

“Council didn’t even know the impact and voted without understanding the impact,” Bowden said.

When questioned about the involvment of the citizens of Ward One, Mayor Nancy Dicks admits more sensitivity should have been used.

“We follow the process, but many cases do deserve special consideration. We should have considered the citizens, as we’ve learned from this,” she said. “In the future, we’ll be cognizant of the need for more sensitivity and transparency on how the (municipal) process works.”

The concerns from the Black community of New Glasgow prompted a special council meeting to be called. According to a social media post made by the Town of New Glasgow, the purpose of the special council meeting is “to reconsider the motion of Dec. 18, 2023, regarding the

recommended site for the long-term care facility in New Glasgow.”

The special council meeting will take place Jan. 29 at the Glasgow Square Theatre at 6 p.m.