Spruce Grove, Alberta

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City of Spruce Grove
Location of Spruce Grove within census division number 11 in Alberta, Canada
Area	15.7 km²
Population	18,405 (2005)
Location	53°32′41.7″N, 113°54′02.9″W
Altitude	705 metres
Incorporation	Village: 1955 Town: 1971 City: 1986
Province	Alberta
Census Division	11
MP	Rona Ambrose
MLA	Doug Horner
Mayor	Ken Scott
City Manager	Doug Lagore
Governing Body	Spruce Grove City Council
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
Postal code	T7X
Area Code	+1-780
SpruceGrove.org

Spruce Grove is a community in the vicinity of Edmonton, Alberta. Its population is over 18,000. Like nearby Stony Plain it is surrounded by Parkland County.

Spruce Grove is a vibrant city (11th largest in Alberta), upheld by city council as having plenty of business and housing opportunities. The Horizon stage is a centre for performing arts here, and its Tri-Municipal Leisure Centre is a popluar recreation facility. As it is fifteen minutes from Edmonton, many citizens travel there to shop. However, there are a great number of businesses on the west end that citizens commonly utilize.

The current mayor is Ken Scott.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Location 1.2 Population 1.3 Transportation 1.3.1 Major Thoroughfares 1.3.2 Local Streets 1.3.3 Railroad 2 History 3 Sports and Recreation 3.1 Amateur sports 3.2 Famous athletes 3.3 Recreation facilities 4 Arts and Entertainment 5 Media 6 Education 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Geography

[edit] Location

Spruce Grove is located near the province's geographical centre, at about 11 km from Edmonton^[1]. It is part of the Edmonton Capital Region.

[edit] Population

As of 2005, the estimated population of Spruce Grove is over 18,000^[2]. The official result of the Canada 2001 Census was 15,983^[3]. A more accurate value will be provided when the data from the Canada 2006 Census is released on February 13, 2007^[4].

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Major Thoroughfares

Two highways pass through Spruce Grove, Highway 16 and Highway 16A. Highway 16 has no traffic lights but has two exits into Spruce Grove, while Highway 16A has several traffic intersections. Travelling east of either of these highways will lead to Edmonton. Travelling west on Highway 16A will lead to Stony Plain, and going west on either highway will lead to Edson, Hinton, and eventually Jasper.^[1]

[edit] Local Streets

The majority of the streets in Spruce Grove use a standard naming system. Their names share a first letter with that of its subdivision. For example, all streets start with M in Millgrove subdivision; in Woodhaven, they all start with W. Only in the original subdivision of Broxton Park and the downtown core is this naming convention not utilized.

[edit] Railroad

CN Rail has trains running through Spruce Grove on a regular basis.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] History

Spruce Grove was incorporated as a village in 1955, as a town in 1971, and as a city in 1986.^[5]

[edit] Sports and Recreation

[edit] Amateur sports

Spruce Grove has an abundant number of youths and adults involved in Amateur Sports, that run year round. Hockey runs from September to April, soccer runs from May to October, football runs from July to November and baseball runs from March to October. The Spruce Grove Saints are a Junior A hockey team that play in the AJHL.

[edit] Famous athletes

Spruce Grove has produced many professional and accomplished athletes. These include the following (in alphabetical order):

• Stu Barnes (NHL centre)
• Nathan Dempsey (NHL defenceman)
• Grant Fuhr (former NHL goaltender)
• Jennifer Heil (moguls skier, Olympic gold medalist)

[edit] Recreation facilities

The TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre, opened in 2002, provides a pool, soccer fields, a gymnasium, workout gym, and ice rinks to the people of Parkland County. Spruce Grove has bike trails winding throughout the city, called the Heritage Grove Trail, where bike riders can ride for hours through lush forest.

[edit] Arts and Entertainment

Horizon Stage hosts many plays and acts throughout the year, as well as a lot of community theatre. Spruce Grove also has one movie theatre.

[edit] Media

Spruce Grove receives almost all of its print, radio, and television media from Edmonton.

For a more detailed look at these media, see Media in Edmonton.

However, Spruce Grove has its own weekly newspaper, the Spruce Grove Examiner, delivered to all homes every Friday. This newspaper holds almost exclusively local news.^[6].

[edit] Education

Spruce Grove is part of the Parkland School Division No. 70. The following schools are located in Spruce Grove^[7]

• Greystone Centennial Middle School
• Spruce Grove Composite High School educates approximately 1200 students from the Parkland County Area

[edit] See also

• List of cities in Canada
• Edmonton Capital Region

[edit] References

	Onoway	Calahoo	St. Albert
	Stony Plain, Carvel		Acheson, Enoch Cree Nation, Edmonton
		Spruce Grove
			Devon