From Train Station to Art Gallery
Prior to the advent of the automobile, and high-quality roads, the railway was a life thread for the community, shipping and receiving supplies and forming a central focus of community life. The first train station was built in Okotoks in 1892. In 1908 it was custom to welcome newlyweds at the train station with the Okotoks Band.
This wooden station collapsed in a fire in 1928. The fire burned the second floor balcony off the General Store across the street. A new station rose from the ashes in 1929 at a cost of $19,871, the only brick station on the CPR. Many of the station agents lived on the second floor with their families while the main floor served as the station, telegraph office and mail area. Due to improved highways and the growing popularity of cars, trains lost patronage and Okotoks bid an era good-bye when the last passenger train stopped in Okotoks in 1971.
The Town of Okotoks purchased the abandoned station from the CPR in 1979 for $1. A committee, known as the Okotoks and District Arts Council, proposed turning the building into a cultural centre. After $224,000 in renovations, The Station Cultural Centre opened in the fall of 1981. The building, owned by the town and initially managed by the Okotoks Arts Council, has hosted an array of art exhibitions, recitals, musical performances, classes, auctions and was home to numerous handicraft and hobby clubs.
And what about the ghost?
Yes, encounters of a female ghost occupying the station have been experienced by more than a few visitors and staff. Although there have been a couple of deaths reported at the station, there are no records that a woman ever died there. However, this just adds to the mystery and history of this beautiful, old facility.
