Donated property to become city park

A property on West Eighth Street has been donated to Whitefish for use as a city park.

Emma Sagen, who passed away last year at age 81, arranged for her property to be given to the city. The property is just under an acre in size and has many mature trees and bushes.

Terry Abell, who serves as a representative for the property, said it was important to Sagen that the property remain in its natural state.

“She saw deer, bear and pheasants here,” he said. “She wanted a property left for the animals. She didn’t want it to be torn down for condos.”

An older mobile home sits just off the street and tucked farther back among mature trees are several outbuildings. A walk around the property reveals several areas where deer bed down at night. An outhouse remains on the property.

Abell said Sagen never had an indoor bathroom describing her as a “farm girl who could fix anything.”

Sagen was born inside a car in a snow drift on the road between Shelby and Kevin, near her family’s farm. Later, her family moved to Whitefish living on property at the end of Ninth Street.

Sagen and her husband, Burt, moved to the West Eighth Street property in the mid-1950s.

Abell said she loved cats, owning about 20 at one time.

“She always said cats were little people in fur coats,” he recalled.

The land is valued at $175,000, according to the city of Whitefish.

The city parks and recreation department will coordinate the removal of several dilapidated structures on the lot, but it will remain in a natural state.