Brooks, Alberta

City of Brooks
—  City  —
Brooks from the sky
Logo
Nickname(s): Alberta's Centennial City
Motto: Beautiful and Bountiful
City of Brooks Location of Brooks in Alberta
Coordinates:
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 southeast Alberta, Canada 186 kilometres (116 mi) southeast of Calgary, and 110 kilometres (68 mi) northwest of Medicine Hat. The city is located in the County of Newell No. 4, along the Trans Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway.

History

The area that is now Brooks was originally used as a bison hunting ground for the Blackfoot and Crow. After Treaty 7 was signed in 1877, homesteaders moved into the area to begin farming. Before 1904, the area still did not have a name. Through 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. 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. 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 the 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.

Demographics

The population of the City of Brooks according to its 2007 municipal census is 13,581.^[5]

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]

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

City council

The Brooks City Council for the 2007-10 term consists of one mayor with six councillors.^[6]

• Mayor Martin Shields^[7]
• Councillor Rolf Bander^[8]
• Councillor Norm Gerestein^[9]
• Councillor Clayton Johnson^[10]
• Councillor Noel Moriyama^[11]
• Councillor Bill Prentice^[12]
• Councillor Kimberley Sharkey^[13]

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.

In 2010, the Duke of Sutherland Park was developed. It features baseball diamonds, a soccer field, a playground and a 3,200 ft² waterpark with spray features for toddlers and a play structure for older children.

Also in 2010, the Centennial Regional Arena was completed after nearly a decade of planning and 18 months of construction. The multi-purpose facility seats 1,704 people. It includes corporate boxes, a running track, concessions, and a 200' x 85' surface. The arena is home to several user groups, including the Brooks Bandits.

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

The Brooks Aqueduct south-east of Brooks was built to transport irrigation water across the Eastern Irrigation 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 4 teams go to provincials, in 1989, 1995, 1997, and 2009 winning in '95, '97, and '09. 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.

Geography and climate

Prairie 10km southwest of Brooks, early August 2010

Brooks is located in the Grassland Natural Region of Alberta, at approximately . The area surrounding Brooks is dry mixedgrass/shortgrass prairie.^[14] The city has an elevation of 760 m.

Located in the steppe region known as the Palliser's Triangle, Brooks has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk).^[15] Winters are long, dry and cold, with little snowfall compared to the rest of Canada.^[16] Chinook winds, though less common than in areas west and especially southwest of Brooks, are not uncommon, and ameliorate the cold winter temperatures temporarily when they pass over. Summers are short, with average daytime highs that are warm to hot, though nighttime lows are cool. Spring and autumn are quite short, essentially transition periods between winter and summer. Wide diurnal temperature ranges are regular, due to the aridity and moderately high elevation. Low humidity is prevalent throughout the year. Most of the relatively scant annual precipitation occurs in late spring and summer, often in the form of thunderstorms. On average, the coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of −11 °C (12.2 °F), while the warmest is July, with a mean temperature of 18 °C (64 °F). The driest month is February, with an average monthly precipitation of 12 millimetres (0.47 in), while the wettest month is June, with an average of 59 millimetres (2.3 in). Annual precipitation is low, with an average of 348 millimetres (13.7 in).^[17]

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 No. 4 since 1910. It has a weekly circulation of 4,332 and is a paid subscription product.^[18] 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.^[18]

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.^[19]

"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 Weekend Regional is a second paper the Bulletin established in 2004 and it is published on Fridays. As of January 2010, it became a total market coverage product with a weekly circulation of 11,235.^[18]

Notable residents

• Ryan Peake, lead guitarist of Nickelback^[20]
• Sherraine Schalm, Olympic Fencer^[21]
• Sheri Forde, TSN Toronto reporter^[22]
• Lyle Seitz, NHL Linesman^[23]

See also

• List of communities in Alberta
• List of cities in Alberta
• Southern Alberta
• Dinosaur Provincial Park
• 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

Subdivisions of Alberta Subdivisions Regions · Census divisions · Municipal districts (counties) · Specialized municipalities · School districts · Regional Health Authorities Communities Cities · Towns · Villages · Summer villages · Hamlets · Indian reserves · Métis settlements · Ghost towns · Designated places Cities and Urban Service Areas Airdrie · Brooks · Calgary · Camrose · Cold Lake · Edmonton (capital) · Fort McMurray · Fort Saskatchewan · Grande Prairie · Lacombe · Leduc · Lethbridge · Lloydminster · Medicine Hat · Red Deer · Sherwood Park · Spruce Grove · St. Albert · Wetaskiwin Category  · Portal  · WikiProject