James A. Christianson (1889-1953) was a prominent Edmonton businessman who sponsored the Mercurys and Oil Kings hockey clubs and the Meteors basketball club. His Mercurys hockey club brought Edmonton worldwide recognition by winning the world's amateur championship in 1950 and the Olympic hockey championship in 1952. Born in Denmark, Christianson arrived in Edmonton in 1935 and went on to become president of Waterloo Industries. Among his volunteer activities, he was president of the Edmonton Kiwanis Club in 1942; chairman of the Citizens' Committee and the Chamber of Commerce Highways Committee; and president, in 1951, of the Alberta Automotive Dealers' Association. Christiansen received the Junior Chamber of Commerce Citizenship Award in 1952, and was named honorary president of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce in 1953. The James A. Christianson Park is in the Kirkness neighbourhood and has an area of 0.55 ha.