An annual open house at Champion Park wasn’t possible this year, but the Town of Okotoks has taken its tour virtual.
The Okotoks website contains a link to the virtual tour, which reveals a Google Maps version of the 55-acre Champion Park site, which was donated to the Town and Foothills County by Gerald Knowlton in 2016 and is home to an historic train station and a collection of Canadian Pacific train cars, including a mail car, some outbuildings, a pond and open park space.
These points of interest are highlighted on the map, and each features a YouTube video outlining its historical significance. There are 17 videos in total.
“The videos have a live volunteer we filmed at Champion Park who interprets the features and talks about their knowledge of the history,” said Zach Adams, Okotoks community events specialist.
He said the virtual tour is a great alternative to the open house, typically held over August long weekend, which usually sees around 400 people take buses out to the park, which is located on the east side of Highway 2 near the Saskatoon Farm.
“We wanted to create a way for people to be able to engage with the park, even with not being able to be here,” said Adams. “It took all summer to create this tour, so it’s kind of a labour of love and we’re excited for people to view it.”
The virtual tour will remain on the Town’s website indefinitely, so residents can participate at any time, he said. It also means school groups could take virtual field trips to the site and learn some of the history as well.
For the month of November, a photo caption contest is being held for those who visit the virtual tour site or the Town’s social media platforms, with participants asked to create a caption for a photograph found on the website.
The contest closes Nov. 20 and the winner will be announced Nov. 24 and receive a chance to tour Champion Park privately.
“We wanted to gain a little bit of interest in the actual site as well, so with this prize we can still offer that to someone – get them engaging with it and get them excited about Champion Park,” said Adams.
For more information visit www.okotoks.ca/championpark
