Budget cuts at Parks Canada have forced a drastic reduction in hours at York Redoubt National Historic Site on the outskirts of Halifax.
For more than 200 years, York Redoubt has stood at the entrance to Halifax Harbour.
But the fort is defenceless against federal budget cuts, which are forcing Parks Canada to close it from Labour Day to June 25. People will still be able to walk into the site but buildings, including public washrooms, will be closed. There will also be no winter maintenance and no way to bring cars into a huge parking lot.
"It's kind of sad but I can understand why with the budget cuts," said Samantha Saunders. "You can't do much about it so you enjoy it while you have it."
Chaminda Gamage makes the fort part of a site-seeing tour for all his visitors from his native Sri Lanka.
"Even if it's winter, I'm taking my friends here and it's a nice place," said Gamage. "You can view the harbour and the Citadel from here and there's a historical meaning to here."
York Redoubt's original batteries were built in 1793, at the outbreak of war between Britain and revolutionary France. When French warships were reported in the near the Atlantic coast, harbour batteries were hastily erected to secure Halifax from attack by sea.
A barricade blocking vehicle access to the fort's interior will be going up in the next few weeks.