Edmonton’s Light Horse Park a new community gathering space

April 11, 2023 - Western Sentinel

Light Horse Park in Old Strathcona in Edmonton has reopened.

The park, located north of Whyte Avenue and connected to the old Connaught Armoury, has historical significance as the home of the 19^th Alberta Dragoons, Edmonton’s first military unit.

A grand reopening ceremony took place on Oct. 1, 2022, showcasing the park’s makeover to the community.

Work on the park’s revitalization began in 2018. The upgrades feature a cenotaph and memorial walls, a walking path laid with bricks intended to bear the engraved names of loved ones, and a stone platform shaped and coloured to match the Alberta shield.

Part of the idea to give the park a makeover was to create a welcoming public space for anyone and everyone to gather, explained Stephen “Sticks” Gallard, former regimental sergeant‑major and chair of Old Strathcona Remembers, a community group that led the push to remake the park.

He said in 2011 he and the group recognized that many people living in the area were refugees and immigrants who had escaped from war zones around the world. They had often lost loved ones and in some cases those loved ones had no known gravesites where they could mourn. That acknowledgement gave birth to the idea to create Light Horse Park.

“It is intended for any and all, regardless of background or countries of origin, to have a place that they can dedicate to those they lost and remember them surrounded by others who support and understand what they’ve been through,” Gallard said.

One of the highlights of the new Light Horse Park is the statue of Anne Frank behind the central cenotaph. The statue is a replica of the original created by Dutch artist Pieter d’Hont and installed in the city of Utrecht, Netherlands, in 1960, and is surrounded by tulips and other flowers from the Netherlands. The Dutch Canadian Club donated the statue and flowers, and it was unveiled on Aug. 8, 2021.

“This statue not only reflects the impact on the civilian populous, but also speaks to those things lost in war, such as freedoms, religious persecution and of course the loss of innocence in one so young as Anne whose life was taken for nothing more than having the wrong faith in the Nazis’ eyes,” Gallard said.

In April 2022, five educational plaques were installed at the park. The plaques explain the history of the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment (SALHR), including its roles in the First and Second World Wars and involvement in contemporary conflicts. The plaques were developed in collaboration with the Dutch Canadian Club of Edmonton and the SALHR Association.

Caption

Light Horse Park’s main monument.

Photo by Tim Bryant, Western Sentinel

Caption

South Alberta Light Horse Regiment troops stand at the cenotaph in Light Horse Park during the opening ceremonies on Oct. 1, 2022.

Photo by Olivia Steele

The Light Horse Park rejuvenation project was funded in part by more than $25,000 in grants from Veterans Affairs Canada, as well as donations from the public and corporate sponsors.

More flourishes and additions are planned to be added to the park in the future as funding allows, Gallard explained.

Light Horse Park received its name in 2012, but a greenspace had existed at that location for years prior. The park is named in honour of the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment, a Primary Reserve regiment under 41 Canadian Brigade Group. The regiment has squadrons in Edmonton, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, with its historical roots tying back to the 15th Light Horse Regiment, formed in 1905. The unit landed in France in 1944 and went on to fight in continuous action until the conclusion of the Second World War.

The South Alberta Light Horse Regiment is the senior reserve regiment in Alberta and the only Regiment in the Canadian Armed Forces with “Alberta” in its name, and thus is known as Alberta’s Regiment.

The park site was where, in the early‑ and mid‑20th century, soldiers mustered and exercised their horses before boarding trains for the journey east and onward to battles in Europe.

With files from Stephen Gallard

Caption

Assembled dignitaries during the opening ceremony of Light Horse Park on Oct. 1, 2022.

Photo by Olivia Steele

Caption

Dutch Canadian Club of Edmonton president Frank Stolk speaks about the Anne Frank statue and Light Horse Park during the park’s opening ceremony on Oct. 1, 2022.

Photo by Olivia Steele