Kay Rollans asks who hung two effigies from the 142nd Street Bridge amid 1965 protests against a freeway slated to be built through MacKinnon Ravine. This episode is part of our season exploring the history of parks and natural areas in Edmonton.
We also launched our Patreon with this episode.
The bridge still stands today, over top of the MacKinnon Ravine park.
Kay and Chris went to the City of Edmonton Archives to look for information about Margaret Chappelle and the other members of the Save Our Parks Association, who were very vocal opponents of the 1960s METS plan, including the Jasper Freeway that would have gone through MacKinnon Ravine.
The Metropolitan Edmonton Transportation Study mapped out a central freeway system for Edmonton, to be built through spaces like the Mill Creek, MacKinnon, and Capilano ravines. The Capilano Bridge was built through the Capilano ravine on the east side of Edmonton, but other controversial parts of the plan were defeated.
The two commissioners hung in effigy were Geoff Hamilton and Dudley Menzies.
The clipping files for the MacKinnon Ravine and Save Our Parks Association were full of fascinating coverage of the protests against the freeway from the Journal.
Olive Hoyle, a member of the Save Our Parks Association, donated many records about the group’s work, including this illustration of woodland creatures commenting on a theoretical future Jasper Freeway.
Construction got surprisingly far.
We also met Anne Packer, who protested against the MacKinnon Ravine freeway in the 1960s.
Anne also shared photos from the dedication ceremony when MacKinnon Ravine was formally made into a park in 1984. Maria Jablonski, Anne, Margaret Chappelle, Olive Hoyle, and Jan Reimer all appear.
Further Reading
- List of City of Edmonton Commissioners for 1965
- The Sound Transportation and Environmental Planning Society (STEP) made an appearance in a June 11, 1984 Edmonton Journal article about the park dedication.
- The Affordances of MacKinnon Ravine: Fighting Freeways and Pursuing Government Reform in Edmonton, Alberta – Shannon Stunden Bower, Urban History Review Vol. 44, No. 1/2, Special Issue: Environmental Nuisances and Political Contestation in Canadian Cities (Fall/Spring 2015/16)
- Margaret Chappelle: The artist who saved the MacKinnon Ravine – Bruce Cinnamon, ECAMP (Nov 2, 2021)
- The woman who saved old New York – BBC Culture (May 12 2017)
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