Inside Borden Park: Edmonton's century-old amusement-park ghost

Borden Park sits on the north side of the river valley in Virginia Park, 22 hectares of green space that has watched Edmonton transform around it. Established in 1906 on what was then the city limits, it was originally called East End City Park. By the 1920s it had become one of the city's most popular gathering places—crowds came for picnics, musical performances, and sports games. Sir Robert Borden, Canada's eighth prime minister, visited Edmonton on the eve of the First World War, and the park was renamed in his honour in 1914.

But Borden Park was never just a place to sit. It was where Edmonton went to feel alive.

By the 1920s, the park had grown into something closer to a fairground. There was a carousel, a roller coaster that had been operating since 1915, and the Old Mill ride—better known as the "Tunnel of Love." According to the Coaster Enthusiasts of Canada, the Tunnel of Love was a wet, dark ride where passenger boats were drawn through tunnels by magnets. It sounds quaint now, almost precious. Then it was thrilling.

Edmonton's first zoo operated out of Borden Park until the Edmonton Valley Zoo opened in 1959. The park also housed a tea room and, in 1924, one of Edmonton's first outdoor swimming pools. That pool became the centre of a civil rights battle that summer: Black Edmontonians came to cool off and discovered the city had quietly introduced segregationist policies. The community appealed the decision. By mid-July, city council voted to overturn it.

By the 1930s, the amusement's energy had drained. The Old Mill ride was destroyed by fire. The Great Depression meant residents had less money for outings. The roller coaster, which had operated for 20 years, was dismantled in 1935. The zoo moved. The tea room closed. The park became what it is now: public art, walking paths, a formal flower garden, sports fields, and community events.

Today, Borden Park hosts the UFest Ukrainian Festival and Deep Freeze: A Byzantine Winter Festival. In 2018, a Borden Natural Swimming Pool opened—an award-winning chemical-free outdoor pool surrounded by sand, lounge areas, and shaded umbrellas. It's become its own gathering place, a modern answer to that 1924 pool and what it meant to a community seeking refuge.

Memory works this way sometimes. A place holds what it was. Borden Park holds the carousel and the Tunnel of Love and the segregated pool and the roller coaster that no longer exists. It also holds what it is now: a place where the city still gathers, still celebrates, still swims. The amusement is gone, but the park remains.