Brooks, Alberta

City of Brooks
—  City  —
Logo
Nickname(s): Alberta's Centennial City
City of Brooks Location of Brooks in Alberta
Coordinates: 50°33′51″N 111°53′56″W / 50.56417°N 111.89889°W / 50.56417; -111.89889
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Region	Southern Alberta
Census division	2
Incorporated	1910 (village)
	1911 (town)
	2005 (city)
Government [1]
- Mayor	Martin Shields
- Governing body	Brooks City Council
- MP	LaVar Payne (Cons - Medicine Hat)
- MLA	Arno Doerksen (PC - Strathmore-Brooks)
Area [2]
- City	17.70 km2 (6.8 sq mi)
Elevation	760 m (2,493 ft)
Population (2006)[3]
- City	12,498
- Density	706/km2 (1,828.5/sq mi)
- Metro	22,452
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
Postal code span	T1R
Area code(s)	+1-403
Highways	Trans-Canada Highway Highway 36
Website	City of Brooks

Brooks is a small city in south-east Alberta, Canada 186 kilometres (116 mi) south-east of Calgary, and 110 kilometres (68 mi) north-west of Medicine Hat. The city is located in the County of Newell, along the Trans Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway.

History

Brooks was originally used as a buffalo hunting ground for the Blackfoot and Crow. After Treaty Seven was signed in 1877, homesteaders moved into the area to begin farming. Before 1904, the area still did not have a name. By a Canada Post sponsored contest, the area was named after Noel Edgell Brooks, a Canadian Pacific Railway Divisional Engineer from Calgary.

On July 14, 1910, the Village of Brooks was created, which became a town a year later. In the late 20th century, Brooks experienced growth thanks to the oil and gas industry.^{[citation needed]} In the early 1980s, its population grew from 5000 to 8000. In 1996, the population exceeded 10,000 due to expansion at Lakeside IBP meat packing plant.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, Brooks became a city, with a population of about 13,000.

In 2010, Brooks will celebrate its 100th year since being incorporated in 1910.^[4]

Community

The City of Brooks is one of fastest growing communities in Alberta with a multi-cultural flavour unique to other similar sized municipalities in Alberta. Brooks is steadily growing with residential and commercial development. It has educational facilities including a satellite campus of Medicine Hat College, two high schools, two junior high schools, three elementary schools, and two primary schools. Brooks has won the Communities in Bloom competition four times in a row. Brooks has won Tidiness and Community Involvement Awards at a national level.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics

In 2006, Brooks had a population of 12,498 living in 5,051 dwellings, a 7.7% increase from 2001. The city has a land area of 17.70 km² (6.8 sq mi) and a population density of 706.0 /km² (1,828.5/sq mi).^[3]

A municipal census performed in 2007 showed a population of 13,581.^{[citation needed]}

Brooks is a very multicultural community for a city of its size.^{[citation needed]} There are over 76 different languages spoken and many residents are refugees and temporary foreign workers.^{[citation needed]} The community has been called "The City of 100 Hellos" due to its multiculturalism and welcoming/inclusive nature.^{[citation needed]}

City council

The Brooks City Council for the 2007-10 term consists of one mayor with six councillors.^[5]

• Mayor Martin Shields^[6]
• Councillor Rolf Bander^[7]
• Councillor Norm Gerestein^[8]
• Councillor Clayton Johnson^[9]
• Councillor Noel Moriyama^[10]
• Councillor Bill Prentice^[11]
• Councillor Kimberley Sharkey^[12]

Recreation and attractions

The Lakeside Leisure Centre is the area's main recreation centre. It includes two arenas, a curling rink, an aquatic centre with a waterslide and wave pool, a gymnasium, a fitness centre, and multipurpose rooms. The complex was renovated in 2005.

The region's new 1,700 seat Centennial Regional Arena is to be completed in the fall of 2009, and open by December 31, 2009. It will take the place of the Old Centennial Arena, located at the Leisure Centre, which will be demolished.

There are three provincial parks in the area: Kinbrook Island Provincial Park to the south; Dinosaur Provincial Park, a world heritage site, to the northeast; and Tillebrook Provincial Park to the east. In additon, there are several other recreational sites in the area including the Rolling Hills Reservoir, Crawling Valley Reservoir, and Emerson Bridge.

Brooks from the sky

The Brooks Aqueduct south-east of Brooks was built to transport irrigation water across the Eastern Irrigaton District. It spans across a 3.2 km valley, about 20m above the ground.

During the winter months, the Brooks Bandits play in the Alberta Junior Hockey League They joined the league in 2000 and have become more and more popular over the years. During the spring of 2005, The AJHL's Brooks Bandits advanced to the playoffs for the first time, but lost to the Camrose Kodiaks.

There are two football teams in Brooks: The Roadrunners and The Buffalos, which are made up of players from local schools. Brooks has had a lot of success in the past in football. The Buffalos have had 3 teams go to provincials, in 1989, 1995, and 1997, wining in both '95 and '97. The Buffalos won their most recent league Championship in 2008, the first time in 11 years. The Roadrunners have gone to provincials three times, in 1995, 2004 and most recently, 2007.

Climate

Local media

Brooks is served by two radio stations, CIBQ-AM (Q13 Country), and CIXF-FM (The Fox). Both stations are owned by Newcap Broadcasting

Brooks has two distinct newspapers. The Brooks Bulletin is published every Tuesday, and has served Brooks and the County of Newell since 1910. It has a weekly circulation of 4,332.^[14] The Brooks and County Chronicle is published Sundays. It is a free, total market coverage product established in 1995 with a weekly circulation of 11,628.^[15]

In July 2009, The Brooks and County Chronicle was admonished by the Alberta Press Council for a pair of news articles — one that ran as a press release and another written by editor Ryan Kiedrowski — as being inaccurate and misleading when reporting to the public on issues concerning the Brooks Women's Safe Shelter.^[16]

"The Press Council agreed that the news articles were not accurate and were misleading in that they failed to report the closure of beds in the facility in Brooks, and gave the impression the facility was still providing that service. The article also omitted to state that there were significant layoffs of staff from the Shelter at this time, giving the impression of no reduction in service delivery. The publisher of the Chronicle, M. Joan Brees, was also the chairperson of the Brooks & District Safe Shelter Society at the time the articles were published."

The Weekender is a weekly supplement to the Bulletin established in 2004, and it is published on Fridays. It has a weekly circulation of 8,731.^[17]

Notable residents

• Ryan Peake, lead guitarist of Nickelback^[18]
• Sherraine Schalm, Olympic Fencer^[19]
• Sheri Forde, TSN Toronto reporter^[20]

See Also

• Canada’s Stonehenge

Notes

External links

• City of Brooks
• Brooks Tourist site
• Newell Regional Tourism Association
• Brooks Bulletin: Local News

	Calgary	Duchess	Dinosaur Provincial Park
	Bassano		Tilley
		Brooks
	Lomond	Vauxhall	Medicine Hat

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