#yegHistory | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yegarts · 3 years ago

Text

Yorath House Artist Residency Blog Post 7: Beautiful Views: Edmonton’s Westerly Park

Words by Adriana A. Davies, Feb 5 - 13, 2022 Artworks by Marlena Wyman Feb 8 - 20, 2022 Artists-in-Residence at Yorath House

Outing in Laurier Park 1913 - Marlena Wyman - image transfer and oil stick on Mylar (Image from City of Edmonton Archives #EA-10-2927-15).

I think it is time to start writing what is in effect a history of Laurier and Buena Vista Parks because that is the setting for Yorath House. I’ve spent about four weeks researching aspects of this history. It was difficult getting this information and, thank heavens for archives and digital records.

The stories of how Laurier and Buena Vista Parks came into being spans a period of over 100 years: from the end of the fur trade era to the 1950s. The land on which they are located was originally the home of Indigenous Peoples, specifically the River Cree. The ward name, Sipiwiyiniwak, means “People of the River” in Cree. Yorath House is located in what became Buena Vista Park. It is like a “bull’s eye” in the centre of this important piece of land.

Gold Seekers and Homesteaders

In order to tell the story of the “Western Parks,” it is important not only to find out who owned the land but also to examine emerging visions of what cities should be, and their relationship to the land. Land settlement is part of the story of the signing of treaties with Indigenous Peoples and filing of homesteads. Though the fur trade was essentially over when settlement began in the 1880s, a new resource drew fortune seekers. In 1859, James Hector, a geologist with the Palliser Expedition, noted the presence of gold flakes at Fort Edmonton.

Gold rushes had been occurring in various parts of the U S in the first part of the nineteenth century. Tom Clover, a Missouri native and veteran of the California gold rush of 1849, in the 1860s heard about gold being found at Fort Edmonton and made his way here. The section of the North Saskatchewan River that he worked in the 1860s became the Cloverdale and Clover Bar neighbourhoods. Several early Edmonton businessmen also started out in the gold fields of California and BC including Timolean Love, Jim Gibbons, Ed Carey, William Cust and Donald Ross. In 1862, over 170 gold seekers known as “overlanders” (in contrast to those who took maritime routes) passed through Edmonton in July.1 While the majority were heading to BC, about 60 stayed in Edmonton to pan for gold along the River.

The transition from gold seekers to residents happened in the next 10 to 15 years. In 1866, James Gibbons, from Donegal, Ireland, was one of those gold miners. At the age of 15, he travelled to the US in 1852 visiting a sister in New York and an uncle in Delaware. Greed for gold took him to California and Nevada before he headed North to the Fraser River in BC (1859) and, finally, Edmonton. The signing of Treaty 6 enabled gold seekers and others to file for homesteads. The cross-over to settlement in what became Edmonton’s west end took place as a result of a Hudson’s Bay employee from Scotland. Malcolm Groat signed on with the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1861 and served at Fort Edmonton. By the time he ended his service with the HBC, he was in charge of farming operations at the Fort. In 1870, after the HBC selected their 3,000 acre land reserve around the Fort, Groat claimed 900 acres along the western edge of the reserve (what became River Lot 2), and settled there in 1878 with wife Marguerite and their nine children. She was the daughter of Chief Factor William Joseph Christie. Other HBC employees including Métis did the same. They established the pattern of long, narrow lots with river frontages on both banks of the North Saskatchewan. Many of their names are reflected in neighbourhoods or land features.

On the Miner’s Flats, now Buena Vista and Laurier parks, three gold-seekers and friends claimed land: Gilbert John Anderson, Thomas Charles Stephenson/Stevenson (so-called “English Charlie”) and James Gibbons. In 1873 Gibbons married Mary Isabel Anderson, a stepdaughter of Gilbert Anderson. With the help of his wife, who was Métis, he made several trips to Winnipeg to bring back trade goods. After 100 years of the fur trade, family ties were complex as a result of the inter-marriage of HBC employees and Indigenous women. Linda Goyette and Carolina Jakeway Roemmich note in Edmonton In Our Own Words:

Their descendants take care to describe the mingled lineage: Gilbert Anderson, who grew up among Cree relatives in the Enoch band, inherited his name from a Métis great-grandfather who was an HBC employee; but he was also great-grandson of Chief Michel Callihoo and a [great]-nephew of the early gold prospector Jimmy Gibbons. “These people were contemporaries in a small community,” said Anderson. “The families intermarried in the early years and that’s how Edmonton began.

Gibbons wrote a reminiscence in which he notes:

Christie was in charge at Edmonton. There were about twenty-five families about the place. They were French Canadians, half-breeds, and Highland Scotch. William Borwick was the blacksmith. William Lennie was also a blacksmith; there were those days two kinds of Scotch – those who could speak English and those who could not. Jimmie Gullion was the boat builder assisted by his brother, George. Pig Kenny was in charge of the pigs. Malcolm Groat was in charge of the men. There were two clerks in the post – McAulay and McDonald. Sandy Anderson was the saddler and made the dog harness. John Norris was dog runner. Donald McLeod was in the company service at that time and I remember that he spoke very little English. Gilbert Anderson was sawing lumber for the Company, and William Meavor was getting out the logs.”2

Gibbons filed for a homestead comprising 80 acres “on the North side of the Sask. River,” in 1878 (Section 24, Township 52, Range 25, Meridian 4). The records note that he has a family of five and will be using the land for “mining, farming and trading.” The value was placed at $1,000. His witnesses were Stephenson and Anderson. He later got a pre-emption for the adjoining land and, in 1893, he noted that he had 40 acres under cultivation, 25 “horned cattle,” 15-20 calves and yearlings, and 40 head of horses, mares and colts. In 1885, he applied for a “patent of home.” Gibbons also served as the Indian Agent for the Stony Plain Reserve (1898-1908) and, in that capacity, was involved in three key surrenders of lands: Enoch in 1902; Alexander Band in 1905; and the Michel Band surrenders in 1903 and 1906. Gibbons was the founding President of the Old Timers’ Association in 1894. He also filed for a homestead in Stony Plain in 1902 and purchased land and built a house for his retirement at 125 Street and 105 Avenue (this is a designated historic resource). He died in 1933.3

Gilbert John Anderson appears in the HBC Archives database of servants’ contracts: in 1852, he is listed as a “labourer” and, in 1862, as a “sawyer labourer.”4 On July 23, 1885, he filed for homestead Section 25, Township 52, Range 25, Meridian 4, which is also part of the Laurier Park lands. On January 24, 1894, he did another filing for Section 26, Township 52, Range 25, Meridian 4. The record shows that he had been a miner for 20 years and had two children, and that this would be his permanent residence. He also notes that he had broken the land and had cattle, four horses, a chicken house and a stable. Anderson was born in Stenness, Orkney Islands, Scotland on July 1830 and died in Edmonton in 1915 and was buried in the Edmonton Municipal Cemetery.

The last of the three friends to file for a homestead, in 1885, was Stephenson. He filed for Southeast ¼, Section 25, Township 52, Range 25, Meridian 4. His witnesses were his friends and neighbours James Gibbons and Gilbert Anderson. The land purchased by William Wilkin on which Yorath House is situated is part of this homestead. Stephenson was born in England in 1838 and died in 1923 in Edmonton and is buried in the municipal cemetery. In most records, his surname is spelled “Stevenson,” which made it difficult to locate his homestead papers, which were under the name “Thomas Charles Stephenson.”

Alberta’s Capital City: The Rush to Urbanization

Painting of Valleyview Drive by Marlena Wyman.

Edmonton incorporated as a town in 1892 and as a city in 1904; in that time period its population rose from 700 to 8,350. In the early years of the twentieth century there was a feeding frenzy of property speculation. In 1903, Malcolm Groat sold his estate to property developers. In the same year, Charles Stephenson sold part of his land to realtor S. H. Smith, a city alderman (1906-07), for $12 an acre. Stephenson did not sell all of his land retaining a number of acres on which he and, later, his grandson, William Stephenson, resided. Maps from about 1912 show a square of land with river frontage in private hands.5

The extent of Edmonton’s property boom, partly fueled by the building of railways, is described by historian John Gilpin as follows:

Between 1903 and 1914, 274 new subdivisions were created, which inflated the assessed value of city property to $191 million. Most of these existed only on paper and would never be developed. This rate represented an 1800 percent increase in the number of subdivisions on the north side alone compared with an 800 percent increase in the total population of Edmonton between 1904 and 1914.

These new subdivisions were located on both sides of the river, with the largest concentration being northeast of the central business district. Mundy's 1912 map of Greater Edmonton shows new subdivisions established as far as seven miles from the downtown area. The names chosen were common to other Canadian cities, and included Tuxedo Park and Queen Mary Park. With the exception of Windsor Park, Glenora, and Beau Park, these subdivisions did not deviate much from the grid pattern. The cumulative result was the creation of a blueprint for a "Greater Edmonton" that dazzled the imagination of Edmonton's boosters, strongly influenced many aspects of civic policy, and created new opportunities for Edmonton real estate brokerage firms.6

The property speculation was also fueled by Alberta’s becoming a province on September 1, 1905 and Edmonton being designated as the capital in 1906. This was the result of powerful allies in Ottawa including Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who had been there at the inauguration of the province on a bandstand in the Rossdale Flats.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier speaking at the inauguration of the Province of Alberta, September 1, 1905 in Edmonton at the Rossdale Flats. Photographer: Ernest Brown, City of Edmonton Archives EA-10-3217.

The provincial government immediately began to plan for an impressive Legislature building and grounds, and 21 acres was purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company for the site overlooking the North Saskatchewan River. In an article in the Bulletin of November 5, 1906, the headline states: “New C.P.R. Bridge Will Have Suitable Design: Architecture Will Accord With Surrounds and Harmonise With Provincial Buildings.” Premier Rutherford himself met with Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, head of the CPR, to discuss this and tells the journalist that landscape architect “Mr. F. G. Todd of Montreal” has been contracted, and notes that the same process was happening in Saskatchewan. The Province chose Todd because of his impressive credentials: he had studied with pre-eminent American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of New York’s Central Park and Montreal’s Mont Royal.

View of Fort Edmonton with the completed Legislature Building behind, ca. 1912, Photographer: McDermid Studio. Glenbow Archives NC-6-234.

Drawing of proposed approach to Legislature building, 1912. The Legislature was built in the period 1907 to 1913, in the Beaux-Arts style and is an impressive steel-frame, sandstone and granite structure. It was designed by architects Allan Merrick Jeffers and Richard Blakey and Montreal architect Percy Nobbs helped with the final revisions. Photographer: McDermid Studio, Glenbow Archives NC-6-160.

A postcard showing a panoramic view with the completed High Level Bridge and Alberta Legislature, ca. 1917-1918, Glenbow Archives NA-5002-5

The City of Edmonton Archives has extensive correspondence pertaining to parks development in the period 1906 to 1912, including Todd’s 1907 typewritten report that presents a grand vision for the City. In November 1906, Todd was contracted “to prepare a comprehensive beautification scheme for the city” for a fee of $500. He begins by praising the civic government for initiating planning early and cites a number of examples of cities that had not done so, and had to do very expensive remedial work.7 He sees no limits for Edmonton, the capital of a resource-rich province, and makes a key recommendation:

In evolving a comprehensive scheme for parks and boulevards for Edmonton, every advantage should be taken of the great natural beauty of the situation, and also attention must be given to the economic interest of the city, by withdrawing for park purposes, property which is of least value for building, if it is equally valuable for park purposes. Indeed it often happens that the land most unsuitable for building is the best for park purposes, such as the sides of steep ravines and hillsides.

The report has the following sections: East and West End Parks, North End Park, Hudson Bay Flats, Ravine and Hillside Parks, Rat Creek Park, Groat Creek Park, Small Parks and Playgrounds, Boulevards and Parkways, Boulevard to Groat Creek, Boulevard to Rat Creek, Hudson Bay Boulevard, Namayo Boulevard, Capital Boulevard. He devotes a final section to “Plantings.” Thus, before Edmonton had even begun its urban development, it was committed to becoming a “green” city and part of the Garden City Movement that had gained dominance in the UK, the US and Australia. In 1898, Ebenezer Howard published a book titled Cities of Tomorrow. In it, he espoused a method of urban planning in which towns and cities are surrounded by “green belts” and a balance is struck between housing, industry and agriculture. Three such communities were built near London and he received a knighthood.

In the section titled “East and West End Parks,” Todd praises the City as follows:

Your city has already made a commendable start in the way of supplying its future generations with ample breathing space, by purchasing a good sized park East of the city, and one in the Western part of the city. These are splendid properties and well adapted to the purposes for which they have been set apart, and I would suggest that when these are developed later on as the city assumes a larger size, that as much as possible of their present natural beauty be retained, and that their natural picturesqueness be further increased by planting of many trees and shrubs in an irregular and natural way. When drives and walks are built they should be designed with graceful curves, and arranged with the existing and proposed woods in such a manner as to present the park to the best advantage.

The west end park purchase that he refers to is an as-yet unnamed area: it is part of the North 1/2 of Section 24 and West 1/2 of S.W. 1/4 of Section 5, 52, 25, West of the 4th Meridian. The 205 acres belonged to James Gibbons and the city paid $25,625. The purchase was made through the power plant capital account because, initially, the City intended to move its power-generating facility from the Rossdale Flats to this site. In the City records, and also in articles in the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Bulletin, the matter is discussed. A December 29, 1906 article in the Bulletin titled “Recommends Gibbons Site for Water Work” notes that the Commissioner had had specifications prepared for a water treatment facility that would supply “three-million gallons” through a “direct-connected, motor-driven pump.” The other part of the proposal was for a power plant.

The move seemed to be supported by the City Commissioner because not only was there ample land but also water and coal. An article in the Journal of October 10, 1907 titled “New and Extensive Improvements Are Being Planned for Edmonton” provides information on the equipment for the power plant including generating capacity and notes that testing of coal deposits had been done. It does, however, point out an issue: “The Gibbons’ property is about three miles from the centre of the city in a direct line, but owing to a bend in the river it is about five miles distant by trail. In order to transport the heavy machinery to the plant to the site, and to provide communication with other coal mines in case the fuel supply should at any time fail, it is considered necessary to construct a spur line to the property.”

The urgency of expanding the current power plant and the drawbacks of Gibbons’ land supported the vision provided by Todd in his report, and the decision was made not to build on the west end site. By 1909, the Journal was advocating for the location of a park there with the support of the City’s medical officer Dr. T. M. Whitelaw, who gave his hearty approval for a “large suburban park.” On July 29, 1910, it reported: “The advisability of christening the McGibbons [sic.] property Laurier Park will be considered at a special meeting of the council which has been called for Monday at 10 o’clock. At this meeting also a resolution urging the removal of the penitentiary from its present site will be drafted. The resolution will be presented to Sir Wilfrid Laurier during his stay in the city.”

Removing a penitentiary and designating an urban park were both part of the beautification of the City. The new provincial jail would be moved to Fort Saskatchewan, a more remote community in which to situate dangerous offenders. In 1910, Laurier travelled across Western Canada via railway for a period of two months. It was an electioneering trip to get in touch with this fast-growing region of the country. He stopped in Edmonton on August 10 where he was honoured by the park naming.

The influence of Frederick Todd cannot be underestimated. We experience it every time we walk or drive along roads and walkways on the embankments on both sides of the North Saskatchewan River. These reflect the following recommendation in his report:

The advantage of a system of boulevards and driveways connecting the different parks surrounding the city is of such obvious importance that it is hardly necessary to dwell upon it. Few cities have such splendid opportunities for magnificent scenic drives as Edmonton, and it will always be a matter of regret to future generations that land for a boulevard along the entire river embankment was not secured until it was too late to make it continuous. There is however still left the opportunity of obtaining boulevards commencing a little east, and a little west of the city, and the land for these it seems to me should be secured at as early a date as possible.

Laurier Park was the beginning of over 100 parkland purchases that the City undertook in the period 1907 to 1931. These included the Highlands golf course and the Mill Creek, Groat, Mackinnon, Kinnaird and Whitemud Creek ravine lands.8

With respect to the “West End Park,” on October 19, 1910, a proposed nursery was approved; the site comprised five acres. A December 20, 1910 document provides costs for clearing the land of burnt and dead timber. Itemized costs include: ploughing of 37 acres; brushing of 75 acres; mowing, curing, stacking of hay on 50 acres. In another document of the same date, the following activities with accompanying costs are listed:Todd had recommended the planting of many trees and the City took his advice to heart. On April 4, 1911, a Blue Print of the layout of the West End City Park is requested from the Engineering Department (unfortunately, it is not in the file).

Todd had recommended the planting of many trees and the City took his advice to heart. On April 4, 1911, a Blue Print of the layout of the West End City Park is requested from the Engineering Department (unfortunately, it is not in the file).

A family outing at Laurier Park in 1913; trail for not only walkers but also people on horseback was developed. Photographer: Byron May Co. City of Edmonton Archives 2A-10-2927-14

While Todd had set the City on the development of parks, in 1912, correspondence reveals that other landscape architects were also being consulted. Whether this was because Todd was unavailable or “new blood,” as it were, was needed is not clear. A September 16, 1912 letter from American Park Builders, Chicago, requests that they be placed in a position to bid for projects. They note that they can either plan and build the park, or use the plans of other landscape architects. To support the application, they note that they are responsible for the Lincoln Park System in Chicago.

Correspondence also relates to other parks existing at the time including Rat Creek Ravine and Victoria Park; and the building of proposed East and West “river drives.” All are costed fully by A. J. Latornell, the City Engineer. Other projects include roadways leading to the Legislature and the proposed CPR High Level Bridge. A letter dated September 26, 1912, deals with the acquisition of three ravines in the Quesnell subdivision for park purposes. It notes: “Quesnell Ravine would form a desirable addition to Laurier Park to the West, while the other two would form a nucleus of two parks between Laurier Park and West End Park. All three are useless for building purposes.” Market sites on both the North and South sides of the River were also planned.

The Parks Commission delivered its first report on December 31, 1912. During the year, they received proposals from Morell & Nichols, Landscape Architects and Engineers of Minneapolis for park planning work. They were invited to produce a report. In 1912 and 1913, at the recommendation of Morell & Nichols, prominent town planners from the US and Great Britain were brought in to provide public lectures. In addition, the Report notes that “A Womans Club has been formed for the purpose of studying Town Planning on the basis of Mr. Morell’s report.” To help get the message out, it is proposed that 2000 copies of the report be printed and sold to clubs at 50 cents per copy. It is also suggested that copies be made available free of charge to high schools and the University. Finally, the recommendation is made to Council that Morrell and Nichols be retained as the City’s town planning experts.

A January 23, 1913 letter from P. M. Barnes, Assistant Superintendent of Parks to Mr. R. B. Chadwick, refers to a report prepared by the Provincial Archivist, Miss Katherine Hughes, with recommendations for the naming of Edmonton Parks. They are as follows:

What is fascinating is that, in this era of white dominance, the Provincial Archivist recommended the following names: Cree Embankment, Metis Park, Blackfoot Park and Assiniboia Park.

According to her entry in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, prior to coming to Alberta, she was linked to Indigenous causes. She was born in 1876 in Prince Edward Island and became a teacher and journalist and was a member of the Canadian Women’s Press Club. Her Uncle, Cornelius O’Brien was Archbishop of Halifax. According to the DCB entry, written by Pádraig Ó Siadhail,

Biographical sketches claim that she was involved in mission work for the “uplift” of natives in eastern and central Canada. In the summer of 1899 she was employed as teacher at the Mohawk reserve of Saint-Régis (Akwesasne). Two years later Hughes launched, with ecclesiastical support, the Catholic Indian Association, which sought to find employment outside reserves for graduates of Indian schools and, reflecting contemporary attitudes to natives, assimilate them.9

In 1906, she moved to Edmonton to work for the Bulletin reporting on provincial politics. In May 1908 she was appointed as the first provincial archivist and charged with developing the Bureau of Archives. In 1909, she was seconded to serve as the private secretary to Premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford and served in the same position for his successor, Arthur Sifton. In September 1913, she accepted the position of assistant and secretary to the agent general for Alberta in London, England.

Katherine Hughes, first Provincial Archivist of Alberta, ca. 1906. The Provincial Library of Alberta along with the Provincial Archives was established in 1906. Provincial Archives of Alberta A5398.

Besides the list of names, Hughes also provided suggestions as to the historical periods to be commemorated through naming. This is an amazing document for its time. The periods are as follows:

1. The Indians.

2. The coming of the fur-traders, voyageurs, &c.

3. The rise of a new race – The Metis (mixed blood), halfbreeds.

4. The advent of a, The Missionaries, b, the gold miners, c, distinguished travellers or explorers (like Palliser, Southesk, Kane, Butler &c.)

5. The pioneers (free traders, independent of the big fur companies, settlers on farms &c. Mounted Police.

6. The era of the klondyke rush – very brief period, but one fraught with results, affecting Edmonton’s development.

7. The present day period of record making, growth and progress.

In April 1913, Morell & Nichols were advising about the setting up of shelters at East End Park, Groat Ravine, Laurier Park and South Side Park. Advice is also given on the building of playgrounds and a “swimming pool on Syndicate Avenue.” They also suggest that a gymnasium be added to the pool, perhaps the first multi-use recreational facility in the City. It is noted that the consultants had provided three “schemes” to date. In January 1913, the City hears from another landscape architect wishing to do business with the City: Thomas H. Mawson & sons from Vancouver. Their credentials and extent of their work is impressive. It is clear that the Commission is taking its work seriously and they add another name to their roster: L. L. May & Co. Inc. Nurserymen, Florists & Seedsmen from St. Paul, Minnesota.

Civic-minded individuals or, perhaps developers who had an interest in enhancement of their own property development ideas came forward to offer land to the City. Perhaps the most extensive was the proposal by Dr. L. L. Fuller of Strathcona to donate property for the development of Glen Lockhart Park in the Whitemud Creek area. The Bulletin of June 12, 1912 reported on the proposed donation of land as follows: “The only conditions attached to the offer are that the City develop the valley as a high class recreation and amusement park and make it possible for the citizens to get to it by building a car line to it. The exact area offered to the city will not be known until the survey is complete. It will be between 275 and 300 acres. The proposed lake will be 1 ¾ miles in length and some 100 acres in extent.” Fuller proposed building a dam to create Lake McKeen, which could be used by pleasure craft and could also be stocked with fish. The “park fever” incited by Todd would come to an end with the recession that began in mid-1913; this also would end the existence of the Park Commission.

Land Development: The West End

Yorath House and Laurier Heights from across the river - Marlena Wyman – water soluble wax crayon on Mylar.

While so-called “highlands” were the preferred sites for subdivisions for the wealthy and upwardly mobile (think of Ada Boulevard, Saskatchewan Drive, Connaught Drive and Valleyview Drive), areas bordering on parks were similarly desirable. There were enormous opportunities for realtors and property developers, who purchased lands adjacent to city limits to avoid paying taxes, and subdivided them into subdivisions. In 1906, Martin Runnalls established M. Runnalls Real Estate and Insurance Company and began land speculation. The year 1911 sees Runnalls entering into a partnership with Walter Ramsay, owner of greenhouses at Victoria (100th) Avenue and 110 Street and teacher; Dr. Edgar Allin, a medical doctor; Dr. Harry R. Smith, also a doctor; James H. Smith, realtor and land surveyor; and Norman B. Peak of Vancouver. They begin promotion of a new subdivision that Runnalls named Buena Vista (“beautiful view”) in keeping with Frederick Todd’s vision. They acquired land in River Lot 2, the old Stephenson homestead on the banks of the North Saskatchewan. Part of this might be the land purchased by Sam Smith in 1903 (I have been unable to determine whether Smith, the doctor, or Smith the realtor, were relations). A Plan was drawn up and it notes that the subdivision is part of Section 25, Township 52, Range 25, W4 of the Meridian and is described as Capital Hill South. The owner of the land is listed as William Stephenson. An ad in the Bulletin of April 26, 1911 has an image of the subdivision and offers lots for sale. It’s a boilerplate grid design with streets numbered “thirtieth” to “thirty-eighth” and the proposed avenues from north to south named: McMillan, Michigan, Hastings, Spadina and Laurier. The last reflects the nearby park. Lots are priced from $100 to $300 and the ad notes: “One-third Cash. Bal. 1 and 2 years at 7 per cent. Or 6 and 12 Months Without Interest.”

Squatter on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, 1938. Photographer: Hubert Hollingworth. City of Edmonton Archives EA-160-451.

Buena Vista advertisement. Edmonton Bulletin, April 26th, 1911.

Another venture, in 1912, was the erection of a brick and concrete apartment building – the Buena Vista Apartments – with retail on the ground floor at 12327 – 102 Avenue. The building, designed by local architects Herbert Alton Magoon and George Heath MacDonald, cost about $11,000 and, when it opened in 1913, the Bulletin described it as “a most desirable residential property in the west end.” While this venture was a success, the companion subdivision was not completed though some houses were built.10 The recession prior to the First World War ended speculation in property.

The 1912 Driscoll & Knight Map of the City of Edmonton shows the huge land mass of the City (developed and undeveloped). In the left hand bottom corner, Laurier Park and Buena Vista lands are green areas forming an “L” shape. The vertical piece is Laurier Park (the current park is a smaller area because the Storyland Valley Zoo was built on the land in the 1950s) and the horizontal piece, by and large, is the unbuilt Buena Vista subdivision. There is a square piece of land that is unidentified; this is the Stephenson land that Yorath House would be built on.

Driscoll and Knight Map of the City of Edmonton, 1912, City of Edmonton Archives EAM-86.

A review of the City Tax Rolls for selected years beginning in 1907 is very revealing. The degree of land speculation can be clearly seen in the number of properties owned by companies such as McDougall and Secord, the Riverview Land Company, Weber Bros. Realty and other businesses, as well as individual investors. Many did not reside in the City; for example some resided in Vancouver; others in various parts of Ontario and other Canadian provinces; and some even in the UK. As well, city-owned lots for parks and other developments are noted as are those owned by religious denominations (such as the Faithful Companions of Jesus) and designated for use as locations for churches, schools and hospitals. The earlier years in the rolls are listed in no particular order: just dates when property taxes were paid. Later, they are organized according to the name of the subdivision and it is easier to review all of the Buena Vista records.

City of Edmonton Tax Rolls selected years from 1907. City of Edmonton Archives. Photographer: Adriana A. Davies.

The economic recession can be seen in these records and the column of payments with red ink indicating arrears becomes the norm. As individuals and companies defaulted on tax payments, the City seized the property in lieu of payment and then would hold property sales with ads appearing in newspapers. Buena Vista lands owned by the Riverview Land Company, which were likely seized by the City for non-payment of taxes before 1915, appear in a 1918 advertisement for the sale of City-owned land in the Bulletin (Monday, June 10, 1918). It is noted that a number of properties, including Buena Vista (the first on the list), were removed from the sale. This may mean that either Runnalls and his partners paid the arrears, or that someone else purchased the land. The 1920 tax rolls show a number of Runnalls or Riverview Co. properties not only in Buena Vista and Laurier Park areas but also in other parts of the City being in arrears; however, very few have a stamp indicating that they had been/or were to be sold.

I examined Tax Rolls for select years beginning in 1907 and this proved fascinating. All of the noted property developers are there (many of whose names are immortalized in City features including roads, parks and subdivisions) can be seen to own property all over the City. Martin Runnalls from 1911 owns a lot of property not only in River Lot 2 but also in other areas of the City as does the company he created with partners, the Riverview Land Company. The year 1921 is fascinating because of the number of property owners who are in arrears; the status column noting arrears is literally bleeding red. Both Runnalls personally and Riverview Land Company are in arrears in many properties; however, they have not as yet forfeited their properties for non-payment of taxes. Many individual landowners had. The City was in major debt and this faced the new Commissioner for Public Works, C. J. Yorath who was hired in 1921. He had held the same position in Saskatoon from 1913 and had got them out of debt as well as developing the new City Plan based on Garden City models. The Tax Rolls get easier to review once they are set out according to subdivisions/neighbourhoods. Buena Vista had quite a number of residents indicating that Runnalls and the Riverview Land Company had succeeded in selling lots and houses had been built.

From the 1907 Tax Roll onward, it can be seen that as new immigrant groups arrived in the province, they purchased land. This includes not just people from the UK and the US but also Ukrainians and Germans. A number of properties are also owned by women. In Buena Vista, there are about 34 property holders listed in the Tax Rolls including lots 8 to 14 owned by W. L. Wilkin and his wife Hilda Wilkin.

The recession prior to the First World War continued through the war-time years when government funding was focused on the war front, through the 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s, and, then into the Second World War. Surprisingly, during these difficult times, the City of Edmonton and province of Alberta did not lose their interest in beautiful communities. In 1928, the Town Planning and Preservation of Natural Beauty Act was passed by the Government of Alberta. While the “natural beauty” in the title suggests that some of Frederick Todd’s tenets are embedded in it, this is not the case. The legislation enabled municipalities to formulate and carry out planning schemes and is as dry-as-dust.

City records in the Archives indicate that just before the Dirty Thirties, Edmonton officials were much preoccupied with town planning as they prepared to host the Town Planning Institute of Canada Convention. The 1930s brought an end to most planning activity in Canada and the Institute was disbanded in 1932 and not revived until some 20 years later. The List of City Parks 1931 is an important document because it shows the progress that the City has made since 1907 when Todd promoted the designation of parks sites. Two land acquisitions in the document are of particular interest because they pertain to the area of the “westerly park”:

Quesnell Heights

All that portion of N.W.1/4 of Section 23-53-25 W. 4th, 107 Acres, excepting thereout the areable land, 51.2 Acres more or less. Date Acquired: 1918. Purchase Price: no price listed (could this be a property forfeited for non-payment of taxes). Land Assessment: $3,250.00. Area: 55.8 Acres.

Laurier Park

Pt. of the N.1/2 Section 24 & W. ½ of S.W. ½ of Section 25-52-25 W. 4th. Date Acquired: 1906. Purchase Price: $25,625.00. Land Assessment $20,500.00. Area: 205.0 Acres.

This document also refers to a significant land donation in Groat Estates/Glenora; the wording is as follows: “Donated by Jas. Carruthers in consideration of Bridge over the Ravine being built forty feet wide. The Title is subject to a Caveat filed by Jas. Carruthers.” This would set a precedent for donations of land for park purposes. Carruthers was a Montreal grain merchant and entrepreneur who, in 1905, purchased the Groat homestead from other real estate promoters. His plan was to build a subdivision for individuals who could afford to spend at least $3,500 on a residence; this subdivision became Old Glenora. Carruthers faced the difficulty of getting over the Groat Ravine; as a result of some wheeling and dealing with the City, in 1909, he committed to build a 20-foot wide bridge in exchange for a municipal street car route on 102 Avenue into his subdivision. After further negotiations, Carruthers committed to building a 40-foot wide bridge and donated two parcels of parkland in the adjacent Westmount area in exchange for the City paying the additional bridge building costs. The bridge was built in 1910; however, because of the recession that followed shortly after in 1913, his grand vision was truncated but the city retained the donated property. Eventually, Westmount would be developed as a suburb for young professionals.11 The Edmonton Historical Board entry on the suburb notes:

Thought to be named after the suburb of Montréal, the community of Westmount is bounded by Groat Road, 111 Avenue, 121 Street, and Stony Plain Road. It also includes the Groat Estate area south of Stony Plain Road between Groat Road and 124 Street. A large portion of homes in this neighbourhood were built in the land boom of 1912. Apartments make up about half the living space, but only appeared relatively recently in the 1960s and 1970s along major traffic routes.

A key piece of legislation was passed in 1933 – the 1933 Zoning Bylaw that delineated 12 zoning districts that specified use and building type. It would appear that the City was prepared for orderly development but this would have to wait until the late 1940s.

A rebound in property values and development required the coming in of the Leduc and Redwater oil fields in 1947 and 1948, respectively. This began a boom that would last until about 1980. In this period, the City of Edmonton grew dramatically and infrastructure to support the growth was built. This was the era of the Modern Style epitomized by the architectural firm of Rule, Wynn and Rule. With respect to development in the west end, the realty firm established by L. T. (Timothy) Milton came to the fore. Melton came to Edmonton in 1918 from Winnipeg and learned the business in the offices of Allan, Killam, McKay and Greene where he worked until 1922. The next year, he opened the Stanley Investment Company named for his son, and, in 1932, the company changed its name to L. T. Melton Realty. A 1945 ad in the Journal of May 17, 1945 advertises a subdivision as follows: “River Frontage and Capital Hill South 138 St. and 90th Ave. Acre lots $40 cash, balance $25 per month give you title in 10 months. West End Acreage ‘in a growing city is the best investment on earth’.” The West End Office is located at 14921 Stony Plain Road.

In 1947, his son Stanley, on returning from fighting in the Second World War, took over the firm and filed a subdivision plan for Capital Hill South (N.E.1/4 & N.W. ¼ Sec. 25 – Tp. 52, Rg. 25, M 4). It shows a strip of land, named Melton Hill, above what is now the Valley Zoo. This indicates Melton’s interest in the development of the West End communities running across the brow of the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River (Capital Hill, Valleyview, Crestwood, Parkview and Laurier Heights). The company website notes: “Development of the Laurier Heights subdivision residential neighbourhood in west Edmonton begun postwar with approximately six out of every ten residences (58%) being built between 1946 and 1960, and approximately four in ten residences being built between 1961 and 1970.” By 1953 there were 16 Melton branch offices in Edmonton.

The Wilkin and Co. realty and insurance firm was tiny in comparison to the Melton and Weber Bros. firms but, according to Richard Wilkin, his grandfather likely acquired the riverside lands in the Buena Vista subdivision around 1945. That was the year that he purchased land on Connaught Drive to build a home for himself and wife Hilda. The firm, which in the 1950s was run by Wilkin’s son Bill (Richard’s Father) had its offices on the ground floor of the Buena Vista Building on 124th Street and 103 Avenue. When Dennis Yorath, Wilkin’s son-in-law was transferred from Calgary to Edmonton to head Northwestern Utilities, he required a home for wife Bette and daughters Gillian and Jocelyn. Whether Wilkin senior donated the land or sold it to Dennis is unknown; Richard says either option is possible since his Grandfather was a shrewd businessman and his Uncle would have had some type of housing allowance from the company.

There is no question that the house that Dennis and Bette built in 1949 was intended to make a statement: he was part of the elite of Edmonton/Alberta businessmen intending to lead the province into its second half century. The couple chose the architectural firm of Wynn & Rule to design a two-storey home. The house, which was 4,380 square feet, was built near the river edge on a 12-acre lot. The building remains a symbol of design and architecture of the period known as the Modern Style. The house was distant from other subdivisions with few amenities nearby. It seems that Dennis as head of Northwestern Utilities was able to get power there, gas came later as did water (until at least 1959 they used well water). The house had to be reached via 81 Avenue because Buena Vista Road did not exist.

The few houses nearby in what would have been the Buena Vista subdivision were, according to Richard, small cottages or even shacks. Agricultural activities were still taking place in the area and there was a gravel pit in what is now the car park near the house. For a time, there was even a mink farm. Dennis donated a fieldstone chimney, what was left of the original Stephenson log home to the City. A letter in the City Archives dated October 22nd, 1949, thanks him for the gift and notes: “The fireplace is to be rebuilt, according to current plans, at some suitable location and when this is done the descriptive placard to be attached will make note of your thoughtful donation…. As you know, the fireplace was the oldest relic of early Edmonton still in existence. Without your permission for removal, it would have been lost forever.” The City would later inform him that the fireplace could not be rebuilt. There are, however, some fieldstone pillars at the entrance of the property and the family built a cairn near the embankment to honour the Wilkins. The building of the Yorath home would mark a shift in the City’s planning with respect to River lands.

Rebirth of the Garden City

Yorath family flower garden ca. 1980s by Marlena Wyman – water soluble wax crayon on Mylar (based on a family photo of the garden).

The year 1950 saw the City repeal the 1933 Zoning Bylaw on the grounds that it was outdated and passed the Interim Development Bylaw No. 1. This enabled Council to make development decisions based on individual cases. An article in the Edmonton Journal of February 27, 1951 titled “New Subdivision Plan Authorized,” notes:

City council Monday night authorized the filing of a subdivision plan for residential development in Capital Hill south. To this was added a recommendation that the city exchange land it owns for privately owned lands in order to protect riverview land.

Commissioner Menzies estimated it would be at least two years before utilities were brought into the area. He also said there would be restrictions as to the type of residence which could be erected. Ald. Clarke had remarked that this was one of the good residential areas available in the city and asked for assurance there would be restrictions on the type of house constructed.

The upshot of Council deliberations was that further park development would occur in the Laurier Park area and that the City was prepared to use the “first right of refusal” to force property holders to sell to them. A further article in the Journal of April 4, 1957 titled “Buena Vista Park Plan Wins Committee Vote,” notes that the Finance Committee had recommended development of the Buena Vista lands around 142 Street to be developed as a park. There was, of course, opposition and residents who opposed the plan were represented at the Council meeting by Cameron Steer. He is quoted as follows:

Mr. Steer charged that “What the city really seems to be doing is freezing the home-owners’ capital until the city is good and ready to use the land for its own purposes.”

“The city is obligated to buy as soon as the home-owner is ready to sell.” Mayor Hawrelak answered. How is this any different from about 50 other situations in the city?”

“In this case the city doesn’t intend to do anything for years,” Mr. Steer said. He argued that residents moved into the area under the assumption it was residential land “and in June 1954, like a bolt out of the blue, the situation was changed.” That, he said, was when council decided definitely the land would be used for park purposes although as commissioner Menzies pointed out, it was zoned as park in 1933.

Prior to the interim development by-law in 1951, “the private owner could develop the land as a unit.” Mr. Steer said. “In 1951, that protection was taken away.”

The April 1958 Map of the City of Edmonton, according to the legend, shows transit routes, public and separate schools, hospitals and neighbourhoods as well as the City boundaries. It provides an aerial view of Laurier Park and the Buena Vista subdivision spanning 34 lots from 76th Avenue, which is closest to the River, to 8th Avenue, and from 138th Street, which borders on Laurier Park, to 130th Street. It also shows the layout for the Valleyview and Laurier Heights subdivisions. The creation of Buena Vista Park is evident. The area dedicated to Buena Vista Park and Laurier Park comprises 110 hectares, while the residential neighbourhood comprises 132 hectares.

The 1951 tax rolls list the following owners of land in Buena Vista: Hilda R. Wilkin and W. L. Wilkin (owed A78, A79 and A80); City of Edmonton (gravel pit, A81, A82 and A86a); Edward B. Fisk; Margaret Smillie (New York); Arthur S. Cummings; Arthur S. Cummings (Winnipeg); Andrew & Muriel Lucas; Robert F. & Audrey G. Aitchison; Philip Gabel; Frederick M. Wilson; J. Wilbert Wright; Estate of B. S. Muttart; Amy E. Sherman; Ella M. Muttart; Esther Ross Clindinin; Harley G. Nilson; Bertha M. Challis (Altadena, Calif., U.S.A.); City of Edmonton, A22 Lots 12 & 13; Evelyn M. Allen; Cecil B. Atkins; Chas. W. Hosford; Thomas & Mary V. Sinton; Cecil B. Atkins; D. G. Sandilands; Evelyn M. Allen; William A. Dreany; J. R. Washburn; William A. Dreany; Nolan O. Blaylock (owned multiple lots A37, A38, A39 and A40); Christie V. Blaylock; Winnifred Crawford; Charles A. H. Lawford; Florence E. Deltombe; Hollis D. Howard; Arthur S. Cummings; John Welling; Frank H. & Bessie C. Kenwood; Albert F. & May D. Oeming; Wolfred J. & Leona M. Law; Daniel J. & Eva Driscoll; Wilfred J. & Leona M. Law (they owned two lots A59 and A59b); Albert F. & May D. Oeming (owned A60 Lots 16 to 20); City of Edmonton (owns a series of lots A62, A63, A64, A66, A66a (old gravel pit); Alberta & Hattie Lewis; John F. & Winnifred Crawford; Albert & Hattie Lewis (owed A70 and A72); John W. & Winnifred Crawford (owed A72c and A72e); Charles Henry Smith (W. Finchley, London 3, England); Jessie A. Ohlsen; Earl Enger (owns A74 and A75); Merrill H. & Winnifred C. Baker; Maud L. Thomas (New York); Florence Southall; and George M. & Jean Bates (owned A77a and A77b).

There are a number of interesting observations: some of the owners did not live in Edmonton; a number owned multiple properties; and the City already owned property in the subdivision. Richard Wilkin and the Yorath sisters (Gillian and Elizabeth) remember a number of agricultural enterprises there including a stable (the family also kept two horses on the property), a berry farm and a mink farm. Gillian remembers when newly-licensed driving her car through the gravel pit and almost tipping the car over with her baby sister inside. Elizabeth remembers Al Oeming and his fierce cheetah, which he kept on the property. This was in the 1950s.

A section of the City of Edmonton Map, April 1958 showing Laurier Park and Buena Vista subdivision, City of Edmonton Archives.

City records in the Archives indicate that some of the property holders chose to enter litigation with the City to preserve their land. There was an immediate impact: after the introduction of the Interim Development Bylaw No. 1, no more building could occur in the area. Richard Wilkin says that his Father Bill had been intending to build a house on one of the lots 8 to 14 held by the Wilkin Co. but could not do so. As owners decided to leave for a variety of reasons, the City took possession of the land that became Buena Vista Park.

The City of Edmonton District Names Advisory Committee Minutes of June 27, 1956 approved the naming of what is described as a driveway: “This will be a view drive overlooking Laurier Park, the zoo area and the Saskatchewan River. Laurier Drive is suggested because of the subdivision and neighborhood unit name which is “Laurier Heights.” The new subdivision of Laurier Heights was bounded by 87 Avenue to the north (west of 142 Street), 149 Street and Highway 2 to the west (later Whitemud freeway), Buena Vista Park and the Edmonton Valley Zoo to the east, and the North Saskatchewan River valley to the south. It was marketed by real estate companies such as Melton as a neighbourhood for young families with means and a range of amenities were built including a school at 8210 – 142 Street and community League located at 14405 - 85 Avenue; the latter comprises a community hall, outdoor rink and tennis courts.

To add to the amenities of the upper-middle-class subdivision, on July 1, 1959 the City opened the Storyland Valley Zoo, which was built on Laurier Park lands.12 The Edmonton Zoological Society, in 1926, had established a zoo in East End Park, created by the City in 1906. The 140-acre park was renamed after a 1914-visit to the city from then PM Robert Borden. This paralleled the earlier naming of the “West End Park” in 1910 for PM Sir Wilfrid Laurier. In 1930, likely for economic reasons, the City took over the operations of the Zoo from the society that had established it.

Borden Park was a popular destination not only because of the zoo but also other amenities that included the City’s first swimming pools, a tearoom, and carnival features including a carousel, roller coaster and tunnel of love. By the 1950s, declining attendance and the need for the Edmonton Exhibition Society to expand its facilities and grounds had the City focused on relocating it and the Laurier Park site seemed ideal: the City was acquiring land to create Buena Vista Park and the new Laurier Heights neighbourhood was focused on attracting upper-middle-class families. Locating a zoo there focused on children seemed ideal. To build public interest, the Names Advisory Committee designed a public naming contest and, on September 3, 1957, Storyland Valley Zoo was chosen. By 1958, plans had been developed to have a five-acre children’s zoo, two lagoons, a bridge, and mini-railway and illustrations that featured storybook characters and animals. The miniature Allen Herschell 5-16 train became so popular that a second train, the Valley Zoo Express, was added in 1965.

As popular opinion turned against zoos and they became viewed as “prisons” for animals, the City embarked on change. The zoo introduced some “natural” habitats and focused on animals native to the region and conservation of wildlife was also promoted. To reflect this change, in 1975, the name was changed to Valley Zoo and the “storyland” element was dropped. The most recent major addition, which was announced in 1910, was a $43 million project resulting in new state-of-the-art facilities.

Adjacent to Yorath House in Buena Vista Park is the home of the Edmonton Rowing Club and the White Water Paddlers. A group of rowing enthusiasts, in 1972, created a rowing club and registered as a not-for-profit society. They initially stored their shells at the Mayfair Golf Club near the foot of Groat Bridge. This was not an ideal location because of the amount of debris that gathered there. The rowers moved their facility to Saunders Lake east of Leduc. Ultimately, the City of Edmonton gifted them land and they were able to build a permanent facility with the White Water Paddlers, who registered a society in 1973 to promote canoe and kayak paddling for recreation and competitive purposes. Both societies fundraised to build the facility.

Edmonton Voyageurs Canoe Club Annual Regatta, North Saskatchewan River, August 1947. City of Edmonton Archives EA-600-333d.

Parks development from the 1950s was largely ad hoc though the locations identified in 1912-1913 documents were surprisingly prescient. This was to change: the City strengthened its efforts to improve land use planning and control by passing the 1977 Planning Act. Efforts to reinforce park development continued and culminated in the City’s 1990 Ribbon of Green: North Saskatchewan River Valley and Ravine System Concept Plan. The introduction harkens back to Frederick Todd’s recommendations made in his 1907 report. Section C is devoted to “Whitemud, Buena Vista and West Central River Valley Area” and spells out the capital costs to accomplish proposed work that was pegged to cost over $30 million. The following projects were planned:

Whitemud Park to Laurier Park Pedestrian Bridge

Buena Vista Park to Wm. Hawrelak Park Pedestrian Bridge

Mayfair to MacKinnon Pedestrian Bridge

11.5 km main trail (West end of Ft. Edmonton Park to High Level Bridge

2 minor amenity nodes; Buena Vista Park improvements (road, parking and park improvements)

access trail development

Fort Edmonton access road relocation

Fort Edmonton facilities (hotel)

Valley Zoo infrastructure and

Muttart Conservatory/Grierson Hill.

A map in the plan indicates through green arrows the area where work would take place. These measures can all be described as intended to improve access and the visitor experience rather than protecting the sites.

The death of Bette Yorath in 1991 triggered the City’s acquisition of Yorath House from her estate in 1992. The cycle of development of a “westerly park,” which began in 1907 when the City acquired the Gibbons lands, was, thus, completed through the consolidation of the Laurier/Buena Vista park lands. In 2015, Yorath House was designated as a Municipal Historic Resource. In 2019, renovations were completed. Projected at about $2 million when the property was designated, costs rose to over $5.7 million because of difficulties encountered. The official opening took place on September 20, 2019. The restorations to the house, while maintaining the look of the original exterior, would not be as respectful of the interior. The house was gutted and few original architectural features were kept other than the huge fieldstone fireplace and brick and wooden detailing. Bringing it up to code became the imperative so that it could serve its new purpose: a multi-use facility for small gatherings. The integrity of its inherent heritage value was by-and-large ignored.

Wise Use

Part of the 51 acre site in the river valley that would lost to the proposed EPCOR solar farm - Marlena Wyman – ink and watercolour on paper (I painted this soon after the solar farm was first proposed).

Jane Jacobs in her 1961 book titled The Death and Life of Great American Cities attacked 1950s urban planning policy with its emphasis on slum clearance and the building of freeways in urban areas. She rejected large-scale urban development projects and insisted on preserving the integrity of old neighbourhoods because of their human scale. She was also an activist who used protests by ordinary citizens to challenge government policies and projects. She did this in her home neighbourhood of Greenwich Village in New York. After her family’s move to Toronto in 1968 to avoid her sons’ being drafted into the American military to fight in the Viet Nam War, she also championed Toronto neighbourhoods and opposed the building of the Spadina Expressway that would have seen the disappearance of swaths of historic neighbourhoods.

A fascinating National Film Board of Canada documentary titled “City Under Pressure,” directed by Theodore Conant in 1965, places Edmonton squarely in the debate between freeways and parkland.13 In 17 minutes, it captures Mayor William Hawrelak talking about development and making the point that once something is lost (by implication through slum clearance or under a paved roadway), the clock cannot be turned back. A number of un-named “talking heads” make their points; these include aldermanic and mayoral candidates, and civic officials and planners as well as engineers. Key players in the 1964 election, besides Hawrelak, were George Prudham, former Member of Parliament; and oilman Stanley A. Milner. Excerpts from several public hearings about urban development issues are also included. The documentary is described as follows: “A case study of municipal government and the influence of citizens acting as a group. The case study is that of Edmonton, but the problems shown are those of many cities: urban renewal, traffic congestion, zoning, etc.” It is interesting to see Edmontonians debating these important issues and to know that they did not go away and are still dividing the city and communities today.

Parks development in Edmonton, and other towns and cities in Alberta was given a huge push in the early 1970s when the Province provided funding for what was described as “provincial parks” in its two major cities. This resulted in the creation of Calgary’s Fish Creek Park and Edmonton’s Capital City Recreation Park. An initial agreement was struck between the City and Province in 1970; this defined limits to potential use of River Valley lands. In 1975, the Province made available to the City about $45 million for the reclaiming, protecting and developing the River Valley for recreational purposes. The initiative, in effect, created a “super park” that included Rundle, Gold Bar, Hermitage and Dawson parks in the East end of the City. In addition, with the support of the Province, the City conceptualized a “river valley trail system” and acquired lands to ensure that this would be continuous. A layer of accountability was added when the Province built into the agreement that the approval of the environment minister was required for any changes. While initially covering Hermitage to the High Level Bridge, the trail system grew to include areas to the West including the following parks: Victoria, Emily Murphy, Mayfair, Whitemud and Laurier. The firm of Roman Fodchuck and Associates took on the leadership role of guiding the development of the Capital City Park Project.14 The Park opened in 1978.

In its parks planning and development activities, the City was reflecting a major, worldwide increase in environmental awareness prompted by largely unchecked economic developments such as the James Bay hydroelectric project in Quebec/Labrador and oil sands development in the Fort McMurray area. The year 1971 was a banner year when both the federal government and Province of Alberta established departments of the environment and subsequently implemented environmental and social impact assessments.

In order to educate the public about parks and natural areas, in 1976, the John Janzen Nature Centre was established and, in 1985, passage of the River Valley Bylaw offered the River Valley parks, which now comprised over 18,000 acres, protection. This era of intense awareness of the River Valley culminated in the Ribbon of Green report, published in 1990. This was followed by establishment of the Natural Areas Policy in 1995, the Natural Systems Policy (C531) in 2007, and the Biodiversity Report in 2008. This intense activity culminated in 2011 with publication of The Way We Green, the City’s environmental master plan. The wording of the objectives hearkens back to the recommendations of Frederick Todd in 1907:

3.3 The City of Edmonton protects, preserves and enhances a system of conserved natural areas within a functioning and interconnected ecological network.

3.6 The City protects, preserves, and enhances its urban forests.

3.7 The City protects, preserves, and enhances the North Saskatchewan River Valley and Ravine System as Edmonton’s greatest natural asset.

Buena Vista and Laurier Parks owe their current configuration to these pieces of legislation and policies. When judged by the measure of public use, they are an enormous success. On a sunny winter day, the car parks are full and there is a crowd of dog walkers, and young families enjoying nature. This is particularly important at a time when the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020-22 prevents interior gatherings. However, a tipping point has been reached. While the Hawrelak Park Footbridge study indicated that wildlife and natural areas had not been adversely impacted by park development, this is contradicted by the dog walkers and crowds as they swarm the area. The balance between natural areas and human use is difficult to maintain and the good fight needs to be continually fought.

This became evident beginning in the 1960s as development of the west-end neighbourhoods gained momentum. The City developed the Metropolitan Freeway System plan that at its heart saw the river valley and ravines as possible conduits to the downtown. Fortunately, citizen action emerged. The first successful protest prevented the Mill Creek Ravine from becoming a freeway. Next, the MacKinnon Ravine became a target. Trees were cut, a roadbed laid and storm sewers installed before opponents such as artist Margaret Chappelle, whose home backed on to the end of the ravine at about 149 Street and Stony Plain Road, succeeded in having City Council re-consider its decision. In 1974, a narrow vote halted construction and, as Mayor Ivor Dent noted, “If you’ve gone partway down the incorrect path, that’s regrettable – but not as regrettable as going all the way down the incorrect path.”15 The stopping of the MacKinnon Ravine freeway served as a “wake up call” for not only citizens but also councillors and civic staff.

The City of Edmonton’s River Valley protection plan is at a crossroads in 2022. Many jurisdictions are turning to solar power as more environmentally sensitive than hydrocarbons. In 2017, EPCOR presented the City with a proposal to build a solar power plant next to the E. L. Smith water treatment plant in the west end. This was in response to a requirement set by the City for the company to convert 10 percent of its power consumption to locally produced renewable resources. While on the surface this seems admirable, all that glitters is not gold. The proposal required rezoning of 99 acres of River Valley parkland near Big Island/Woodbend Urban Provincial Park for industrial use. The whole concept is a violation of over 50 years of environmental planning and implementation. The building of the plant would require not only the cutting of trees and enclosure of the whole area by a fence but also the installation of 45,000 ground-mounted solar panels.

How City Council could have approved this with even a narrow margin flies in the face of all of its environmental and parks plans that focus on protecting natural areas including sensitive habitats and ecosystems. Just as the Mill Creek and MacKinnon Ravine freeway projects were halted as a result of citizen activism, there is currently an initiative to block the solar farm mounted by several groups including the Edmonton and Area Land Trust and the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition Society. They noted that the project would have a negative impact on the human use and environmental health of the area.

The Yorath House Art Residency has made abundantly clear to me, and my fellow artist Marlena Wyman, that we must continue to learn from the past to preserve the best of the natural and built environment. I believe that my poetry for many years has been written in the spirit of the recommendations of Frederick Todd and others like him.

For me, Edmonton needs to remain a garden city whatever the economic growth and development proponents would say to the contrary. Working in the Yorath House studio has re-energized me and reinforced my love of nature and the desire, as Grant MacEwan termed it, to leave the vineyard a better place. I began walking in this area as a young wife and mother, beginning in 1981 and, now, for many years as a grandmother. I want those who come after me not only in my family but also my community and the City of Edmonton to enjoy this privilege.

February 10, 2022

I am woken up in the middle of the night with the lines of a poem emerging into my consciousness. I write it down immediately after I arrive at Yorath House. I then add other poems that I have previously written that are in keeping with the sentiments expressed in it.

Buena Vista

Sitting at river’s edge In a silent house I am focused on dualities again – What to let go, And what to keep.

Over 100 years ago A landscape architect admired The broad sweep of the North Saskatchewan River Valley – The high escarpments And the beautiful view they afforded Of water, trees and sky.

I am thankful That through the process of city building That we have not lost this beauty. Every generation must fight for it So that useful things Such as power plants, water treatment facilities And solar farms are not built On this sacred land That has defied development So that it can continue To please the eye And gladden the heart.

Powers

How can one encompass all that Earth is – In words? Like trying to cram the myriad grains of sand into an hourglass, The ebb and flow of tides into power-generating turbines, The Earth’s inner fires into furnaces, And the turbulent winds into mere drivers for electric machines.

Subservience to our will, a litany of uses. These do not explain the mystery at the heart of Nature, The raw power and energy-defying imaginings. Is it any wonder that past civilizations invented deities, To represent these primal forces, Making them powerful, and capricious.

Satellite images allow us To observe the birth of hurricanes – Winds mass into a whirling vortex, The eye of the storm the still point, In that uncontrolled fury, Soon to be unleashed on vulnerable human habitations.

No matter how many roads we tarmac, Power lines we erect to straddle continents, Streams, brooks and mighty rivers channeled, Meadows and hills saddled with houses, And space, that last frontier, become a mighty communications medium, It will never be just man’s world.

Canticle of Hope

Oh, we are such stuff that dreams are made of. . . . William Shakespeare

I dream a better world Where people love rather than fight Care for the environment Plant trees rather than cutting them down Use the Earth’s resources wisely Elect good leaders Avoid the easy way out Celebrate small things View each day as a gift Make time to reflect on the beauty of nature Pray in a church, a street, field or mountaintop Experience pain when an unknown child dies in sectarian violence Challenge injustice March to support a good cause Share their lives with others Gather with others of goodwill Reject acquisitiveness and notions of more being better Practice charity through small acts of kindness Learn a new thing each day Say thank you often Retain the idealism of youth in old age Learn from the past Use optimism as a tool for change Reject those who say a thing cannot be done Affirm life Work only at occupations that improve the human condition Celebrate the achievements of others Preserve what is good from the past Envision change to improve our common lot Give and receive love and affection Ensure that all people enjoy fundamental freedoms Put individual needs below common needs Share the pain of others Demonstrate compassion Provide assistance to the needy Keep governments honest Run for public office Reject creeds that divide and set one person above another Support the arts that grow the spirit Live in the present since today is the only day that we may have Build today for 100 years from now Use technology as a tool rather than as an end Leave no opportunity to do good unfulfilled Live life fully Dare to dream a better world.

The Peaceable Kingdom

Unthinkable to give up on Earth, In a post-industrial period, The record of the past 200 years, One of plunder of riches, For short term gain. How to change the inbred attitude That all exists for our use, That resources are inexhaustible, And there for the taking.

The evidence is present— In books and other documentary sources, But also before our eyes, As we walk the streets of populous cities, Once fields and forests, See the pollution from other parts of the world, As it precipitates out of the sky in acid rain, or other blight, And washes up on our beaches As red tides or decaying corpses of sea creatures.

Is Earth dying, As writers have predicted, In science fiction chronicles Of the past 100 years, Killed either by human aggression, Resulting in a nuclear holocaust, Or by excessive use of soil, air and water, Resulting in an uninhabitable wasteland, And spurring a diaspora to other worlds.

So long as love of Earth remains a minority passion, There will be no change, No mid-ground brokered between jobs and preservation, And humankind will remain in conflict with Nature. Only the very young Loving Earth unreservedly, And the old, cultivating their gardens,In restful ease, At the twilight of their lives.

Thinking green thoughts, The task of all who wish not only Earth, But all living creatures to survive, Wise use become the rallying point On which all agree, Valuing not only the things of Nature, But also all human achievement. The lion lying down with the shepherd and lamb, In the Peaceable Kingdom.

_____________________________________________________

1 An account can be found in Michael Donnelly’s article “Gold Mining at Edmonton,” Alberta History, Spring 2017, vol 65, issue 2, URL: https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=googlescholar&id=GALE|A491183689&v=2.1&it=r&sid=googleScholar&asid=10c64db3, retrieved January 14, 2022.

2 J. G. MacGregor, Edmonton: A History (Edmonton, AB: M. G. Hurtig Publishers, 1967), 67.

3 See Alberta Register of Historic Places entry for Gibbons’ home on 125 Street and 105 Avenue in the Groat Estate, URL: https://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=2&ObjectID=HS%2014858; and Anon., “Pioneers Hold Golden Wedding,” Winnipeg Tribune, May 30, 1923, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1118632/james-gibbons-story-about-his-life/, retrieved January 14, 2022.

4 Archives of Manitoba, HBC, Servants’ Contracts 1780 – ca. 1926, URL: https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/name_indexes/hbc_servants_contracts.html, retrieved February 10, 2022.

5 Samuel Hardman Smith was British-born and set up the Western Realty Company Ltd. He wrote a “biographical sketch” of Stephenson/Stevenson, which is in the City of Edmonton Archives. In the sketch, he confirms the purchase of some of his land and notes: “Some years later, the writer being at Miners’ Flats and wanting some fresh eggs went to a log house built on the bank of the river, got into a conversation with the inhabitants of the house, finally asking their name was told Stevenson. This man was the grandson of English Charlie who had come out from New York and was remaining on the portion of the old claim that was still in the name of Charles Stevenson.”

6 See John Gilpin, Responsible Enterprise: A History of Edmonton Real Estate and the Edmonton Real Estate Board (Edmonton, AB: Edmonton Real Estate Board, 1997), 16.

7 Anon., “City Council: Three Important Propositions Attended to at Last Night’s Meeting,” in The Edmonton Bulletin, November 15, 1906.

8 See ERVVC, “A Brief History of Edmonton’s River Valley and Ravine Park System: Early History,” Edmonton River Valley Coalition, URL: https://www.ervcc.com/brief-history-of-nsr, retrieved February 10, 2022.

9 See Pádraig Ó Siadhail, “Hughes, Katherine (Catherine) Angelina, Dictionary of Canadian Biography online, URL: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hughes_katherine_angelina_15E.html, retrieved February 13, 2022; and Pádraig Ó Siadhail, “Katherine Hughes, Irish political activist,” in Edmonton: the life of a city, Bob Hesketh and Frances Swyripa, eds. (Edmonton, AB, NeWest Publishers, 1995), 78–87. Hughes was also likely responsible for the addition of carved masks of four Chiefs wearing headdresses in the rotunda of the Leg. See Cole Hawkins, “Tokens of Remembrance: Indigenous Faces in Edmonton’s Beaux Arts Architecture, 1907-1930,” September 21, 2021, URL: https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2021/09/21/tokens-of-remembrance-indigenous-faces-in-edmontons-beaux-arts-architecture-1907-1930/, retrieved February 21, 2022.

10 In 1916, Runnalls was advertising land for sale in Wainwright in the Bulletin. The stock market crash in October 1929 signalled the start of the Great Depression and the City of Edmonton foreclosed on the Buena Vista Apartments for non-payment of taxes in 1930. Credit Foncier, holder of the mortgage, paid out the $5,656.77 owing in taxes and assumed the title, which it retained until the 1980s.

11 See Edmonton Historical Board, “Westmount,” URL: https://www.edmontonsarchitecturalheritage.ca/index.cfm/neighbourhoods/westmount/, retrieved February 10, 2022.

12 For various documents relating to the Valley Zoo, the City of Edmonton Archives has materials in its fonds relating to parks and recreation, facilities, Valley Zoo. URL: https://cityarchives.edmonton.ca/valley-zoo, retrieved February 12, 2022.

13 See National Film Board of Canada, City Under Pressure, URL: https://www.nfb.ca/film/city-under-pressure/, retrieved February 17, 2022.

14 See Nancy Ellwand and Roman Fodchuck, “Edmonton Restores Its River Valley: A Capital Case for Reclamation,” Landscape Architecture Magazine, vol. 69, No. 3 (May 1979), 279-290.

15 See ERVVC, “A Brief History of Edmonton’s River Valley and Ravine Park System: Early History,” Edmonton River Valley Coalition, URL: https://www.ervcc.com/brief-history-of-nsr, retrieved February 13, 2022.

#yeg #yegarts #yeghistory #edmonton #YorathHouse

0 notes