In 2005 the Chilliwack Rotary Club started a project that transformed the Jean McNaughton (formerly Victoria) and Happy Wilkinson parks into a new multi-purpose urban park. The December 12, 2005 Chilliwack Progress newspaper reports that the city council endorsed the name “Central Community Park” to “identify this transformed site as an important community asset located in the heart of downtown Chilliwack” (Chilliwack Progress, 2005 Dec 13, p.5).
In 1964, Chilliwack city council voted in favour of renaming Victoria Park the Jean McNaughton Park after the late Jean McNaughton – a well-known horticulturalist and school teacher (Chilliwack Progress, 1964 June 3).
In 1995, Happy Wilkinson Park located at 45943 Victoria Avenue and adjacent to the Jean McNaughton Park, became an official “Municipal Heritage Site” after the property was willed to the District of Chilliwack by Ruby and Happy Wilkinson (Chilliwack Progress, 1995, Dec 6, p.A7).
References:
- Chilliwack Progress (2005, Dec 13). Rotary Club of Chilliwack advertisement. The Chilliwack Progress. Chilliwack, B.C.
- Chilliwack Progress (1964, June 3). Rename Park for Jean McNaughton. The Chilliwack Progress. Chilliwack, B.C.
- Chilliwack Progress (1995, December 6). Park Designated as Heritage Site. The Chilliwack Progress. Chilliwack, B.C.
Photograph caption: Gladstone Happy Wilkinson, taken at the opening of the lacrosse box at the Skwah Indian Reserve No. 4 on Wellington Avenue. Happy Wilkinson and wife Ruby lived at 7 Victoria Avenue West, where Central Community Park now exists. [Chilliwack Museum and Archives, P398].