© 2021, Christian Cassidy
Enjoying Kildonan Park ca. 1930 (City of Winnipeg Archives) and 2018 (C.Cassidy)
Kildonan Park was formally opened to the public on May 24, 1911 and was an instant hit with its wooded stands, vast lawns, and easy access to the Red River. A Winnipeg Free Press reporter wrote at the time, “Wild in the beauty of unrestricted nature, Kildonan Park will in time become the most beautiful of Winnipeg's big recreation grounds."
It is hard to imagine Winnipeg without Kildonan Park, but there were two occasions where it was almost lost.
April 1911, Winnipeg Tribune
The first came in April 1911 when the city put the park up for sale. It felt that residents were trying to gouge the city when it came to purchasing land to make up its initial 71-acre site, (it is now 96 acres). The R.M. of West Kildonan was also threatening to tax the city on the land.
The city responded by placing for sale ads for the park and vowing to find a site along the river south of the city for a park. Landowners and the R.M. fell in line and the park was never sold.
August 31, 1912, Winnipeg Tribune
Before parks superintendent had a chance to implement his grand plan for the park, which included a boat launch, formal gardens, pavilion and band shell, promoters of the city's industrial exhibition, which included many city officials and the premier, set their sites on it.
"The Ex" was located on a 68-acre piece of land in the north end, what we now call the Old Exhibition Grounds near Jarvis Street and Selkirk Avenue, which was now land locked due to urban development. Its board and promoters thought that with the purchase of additional land to the north, it would make a new site to house the exhibition with an arena, show rings, and even a horse racing track.
The city did purchase additional land, but the war intervened and put the Ex on hold. The organization was dealt a blow when the war office took over their old site to house troops. During the war, thousands of people would flock to the park on summer weekends to enjoy its natural beauty. When the war ended, political will to tear up the park for the exhibition evaporated.
August 2, 1918, Winnipeg Free Press
An indirect remnant of the exhibition plan is Kildonan Park Golf Course.
The city's parks board had been looking for a site to house the city's first municipal golf course and when land was being parcelled up for the Ex in 1914, they approached the board of control to see if they could get in on it.
Work began on the site in 1916, but it would take years for the course to be developed. It was formally opened on July 28, 1921.
For more about the history of Kildonan Park, read my Real Estate News columns about the history of the park and its architecture. My column about the history of its golf course is here.
See my other tree-related posts and columns here.
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