Rotary and Fort Edmonton Park

Posted by Hans Granholm

on Oct 04, 2014

Open the Selkirk meeting photo album and slideshow HERE

Last Tuesday we were treated to an informative and enlightening experience at the Selkirk Hotel in the Fort Edmonton Park.

Thanks to Eric Germain, we convened our regular Tuesday meeting at the Selkirk and were hosted by two extraordinary Rotarians, Jeff Polovick and Jim Greenough, both past presidents and the Driving Force behind the proposed Hotel Selkirk expansion and establishment of a Rotary venue.

It is proposed the Park be updated to the tune of $150 million over the next five years. The idea of Jeff Polovick is to rejuvenate Rotary's presence and involvement in the park and incorporate a 'Rotary House' as part of the Selkirk expansion. The estimated cost of the Rotary component is about $15 million.

The Rotary House would include a historical gallery of Rotary's initiative and involvement in establishing the park (read Linda Granholm's story below).

This historic project should appeal to all Rotary clubs in the district, but in particular, of course, the Metro Edmonton clubs, of which there are over twenty.

This club has participated in the annual Fort Edmonton spring clean-up for a couple of years and we look forward to additional volunteer opportunities in the future.

Last Tuesday’s meeting at Fort Edmonton Park was a real treat for all of us. I found myself wondering after the meeting how many Edmontonians and Edmonton area Rotarians are really aware of the pivotal role the Rotary Club of Edmonton played in creating this wonderful space. The truth is, this wonderful park would not exist at all without the efforts of a few of the “movers and shakers” from the downtown Rotary Club. I confess to a very personal stake in those memories, for my dad Gordon Meneely was one of those men. I have very close up and personal memories of those early days.

The first clue something big was happening was the arrival of a large cedar log to our home in the summer of 1956 that had been chipped flat and burnt with the words “Future home of Fort Edmonton Park” and a Rotary wheel. That piece of wood sat in our basement for a month while my dad gave it about 6 coats of marine varnish to protect it from the elements. Then one evening it disappeared to be installed on a piece of Tommy Fox’s ranch, property he had donated to the cause. This was an all Rotary effort, financed by the club and created with their own hands and minds. The Fort was to be re-created exactly as it had been originally and the project was enthusiastically embraced. For a very long time it remained a club project and when the Fort had been completely re-created with the Factors house and the Company quarters (which were the site of a lot of summer barbecues with everyone dressed in Klondike attire) it was donated to the City of Edmonton as a gift.

Unfortunately, the City has done a thorough job of sanitizing Rotary’s name off everything. Those summer barbecues became a thing of the past as the club was denied entry to the park for special events (no favoritism). The beginning of the “disassociation” with Rotary!

This year we visited during harvest fair–and went over to the Fort to look for the Rotary plaque that had been proudly affixed to the north wall of the palisades when the Fort was given to the City – it was gone! Pried off and gone into “storage” someplace in a city lot – I think some of you remember the one way trip the plaque on the gazebo made! It is my hope that when this new project gets underway, Rotary never again allows their name to be erased from the park. The creation of this place was a dream born of the hearts and minds of a group of men who loved their city and poured countless hours and dollars into a place for other people, so we wouldn’t forget our roots. Unfortunately those founding roots have been cut off by the very people whom they wished to benefit. The original members of the committee are long dead and somehow in the change of hands the whole history has been buried with them. Now it is time for present day Rotarians to remind everyone that this place was their gift and be reminded how important our philanthropic place in the community is.

I hope this is a little nudge to remember our club past and to retain your Rotary history for future Rotarians. After digging for things to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of this club it made me realize how much had been lost in such a short time. I personally believe history is the foundation of every good decision made by a club and it needs to be preserved. So let’s all blow our own horns a bit and remind people of all the good work we do and have done in the past as we move into future projects. Write it down, keep it current, Good deeds need to be celebrated!

Linda Granholm