An Okotoks history buff is looking to save part of that history.
In December of 2021, the Town of Okotoks installed new signs a the entrance to town, spurring Leah Koski, vice-president of the Okotoks Historical Society and area resident, to ask what would come of the old ones.
“When I saw the new signs — and they are beautiful — I was thinking what was going to happen to the old signs,” Koski said.
When she discovered they were destined for the landfill, she immediately initiated dialogue with the Town to save them, even if it meant rehoming them to her own property.
“I phoned the town and talked to somebody, they said they were just going to the landfill,” Koski said.
“I kind of kicked into gear at that point and said we have to do something to save them, because it’s a big part of a lot of peoples’ history.”
After speaking with her husband, they agreed they could at least store them in their acreage shop on the south edge of Okotoks, Koski said, adding she didn’t want it to be any extra cost to the Town.
"They’re taking them down anyway and then taking them to the landfill, and we’re on the way, so they could just drop them off at my property,” she said. “It might even save them a little bit of money because they won’t have to pay a dumping charge.”
While initially the Town staffer she spoke to didn’t think it would be possible, Koski turned to the community to get their views, even starting a Change.org petition that eventually garnered hundreds of signatures.
“So I asked on social media and it was overwhelming,” Koski said, adding she got significant feedback in comments on her posts, as well as in private messages in favour of saving the signs.
As of 3:30 p.m. April 14, the petition had 309 signatures.
The only concerns raised were avoiding extra cost to taxpayers, but Koski insisted there wouldn’t be any.
She was also asked by Town officials what she was going to do with the sign.
“I didn’t really know the answer at that point, we hadn’t thought of anything specific, because we still had lots of work to do, but at this point we’re just trying to save them from destruction,” she said.
Town CAO Elaine Vincent confirmed Thursday afternoon the signs would be saved.
“We love passionate citizens who love history,” said Vincent.
“So we’ve been trying to work to reach an agreement on what would required for the signs to be a part of that.”
The initial decision to dispose of the signs came from an analysis of whether the signs had historic or other value to the Town,
The Town, Vincent said, reviewed the signs from two perspectives, the first being whether they were considered to be of historic value to be kept in the Museum and Archives collection.
The Town’s analysis concluded they didn’t meet the threshold.
“We take a look by its design, its construction, or if it’s linked to a heritage event, special place, a person or social movement,” Vincent said. “Because it didn’t pass any of our tests we weren’t required to keep them as a historic resource.
“So then we took a look at them from an asset management perspective, whether they should be restored, what the cost of that is, etcetera.
“When they didn’t pass either of those tests we put out the tender to take them to landfill.”
That was where Koski got involved.
“Then the community came forward and said ‘Hey, we might like those’,” Vincent said. “We basically said yes, that can work, here’s just a couple conditions that must be met.”
The first condition was the Town would get final authority on what the signs would be used for, the other would be that they are accepted in as-is condition.
“They’re over 40 years old, we’re going to do our best to keep them in one piece, but we’re not sure, those 1000 pound signs, when we take them down what’s going to happen.
“And the moment we had that conversation we were able to reach an agreement, and so all three signs will be delivered to Leah.”
The conclusion, Vincent added, was satisfactory for all parties.
“That’s what we like to have happen; reach an agreement, come to solutions, understand both sides, move forward,” she said.
The petition can be found at change.org/p/save-the-welcome-to-okotoks-signs
