Businessman saving Hamilton’s past and present sports culture

Hamilton businessman Chris Ecklund is keeping the memory of Ivor Wynne alive – even if few people in the city know who he was.

Mr. Ecklund, who has been promoting Hamilton’s waterfalls as tourist attractions for the last year, found himself purchasing Ivor Wynne’s Mountain home last month.

“When I was looking through the house, I was getting goosebumps,” said Mr. Ecklund, a Hamilton Tiger-Cats booster. “I had no clue about the house. But as I walked through the rooms, I saw these unusual pictures of Ivor Wynne. Then I saw Mr. Wynne’s war medals. I started to get these weird feelings. The hair went up on the back of my neck. ‘Oh my god,’ I thought, it’s Ivor Wynne’s home.”

The Scenic Drive house, built in 1953, had been empty for about two years before it was put on the market, he said. As it happened, Mr. Ecklund purchased the house, along with a private suite at Ivor Wynne Stadium for the Tiger-Cats season on his birthday, April 15.

“It seems somebody was telling me something that day,” he said.

“We need to tell the story of who is Ivor Wynne,” he said. “I don’t want to forget Ivor Wynne. Out of respect, it needs to be done.”