Feb. 29, 1988: 'City of Champions!' added to welcome to Edmonton signs

City pride was high when Mayor Laurence Decore unveiled 'City of Champions!' signs at a city hall ceremony, even aswork crews were busy installing the new signs at highway entrances.

During the 1980s the Oilers and Eskimos were winning championships, but the signs were meant to celebratemore than Edmonton's professional sports teams.

The Edmonton Grads, the Northern Lights wheelchair basketball team and the NAIT Ookpiks hockey team were all badges of honour for the city in sports.

Edmonton also had a history of hosting large sports events like the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the Summer Universiade in 1983.

At the ceremony, Decore paid tribute to Calgary hosting the 1988 Olympics and compared the two cities' ability to entertain the world at large events.

"They've shown that southern Albertans are just as great in terms of organization and volunteerism as northern Albertans," Decore said.

The original 'City of Champions!' signs were later redesignedwith the exclamation mark removed. Theygreeted drivers entering the cityuntil council voted in 2015 to scrap them.

In the video, CBC's Marilyn Lee showsthe installation of the newly-minted signs andsome of Edmonton's rich sports history.