Legacy Of Champion Park Now In Town & M.D.'s Hands

The Town of Okotoks and M.D. of Foothills received a generous donation of historic land Friday morning.

Champion Park has been donated by the Knowlton family which is a CPR sanctuary just outside of Okotoks with 52 acres of land paying homage to Gerald L. Knowlton's parents Faye and Fredrick.

Gerald says with his family living in all parts of the world it was going to be tough to maintain it by himself and his close family and passing the torch to the Town and M.D. was a great fit.

"Leaving this park to someone who would maintain it and keep it up in perpetuity was the best way to go for its preservation," he says.

Champion Park was founded in 1979 and has a lake stocked with fish, a restored railway station based out of Champion, fully restored CPR equipment including a locomotive from the 1960s, a one of a kind mail express car built in 1948 and the famous 'Saskatchewan' executive car that has been refurbished and built like new.

Knowlton says he's been collecting vintage trains since he was young and will miss Champion Park where he has plenty of memories.

"Immensely, this is kind of a bittersweet day as you might imagine but on the other hand I know that it will be well taken care of which is our objective."

Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson has known the Knowlton's for years and says it's another chapter in the legacy of giving back to communities for Gerald and his family.

"His generosity towards children, towards people and of course now with this legacy of his family passing this train on to our municipalities is tremendous," he says.

Champion Park is a private facility still and will be when the M.D. and Town take over ownership in 2017, the Friends of Champion Park Society will be formed that will share the responsibilities of maintenance and operation of the park.

The Town and M.D. and will have an announcement on its future endeavours with the park at a later date.

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