Brooks, Alberta

Brooks is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast of Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway, and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Brooks is one of the major centers in Southern Alberta, and the centre of the County of Newell, and the Eastern Irrigation District. In 2007 Brooks had a population of 13,581.

History

Brooks was originally used as a buffalo hunting ground for Blackfoot and Crow natives. After Treaty Seven was signed in 1887, homesteaders moved into the area to begin farming. By 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. In 1910, the Village of Brooks was created. A year later the village became a town. More recently, Brooks has experienced growth thanks to the oil and gas industry. In the early 1980’s, Brooks population grew from 5 000 to about 8 000. In 1996, the population exceeded 10 000 due to expansion at Lakeside IBP meat packing plant. In 2005, Brooks, AB became a city with a population of about 13,000.

Industry

The largest employer in the Brooks Area is Lakeside Packers, an agriculture and meat packing plant recently bought by Canadian Company XL Foods.

Brooks is located in one of Alberta’s most active gas fields, and the city is home to regional offices of several major oil and gas companies.

The three main sectors of Brooks' economy are agriculture, the oil and gas industry, and the retail and service sector.

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 school. Brooks has won the Communities in Bloom competition four times in a row.

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.

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.

The Brooks Aqueduct southeast of Brooks was built to transport irrigation water across the Eastern Irrigaton District. It spans across a 3.2km 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.

The new 1,700 seat Brooks Regional Arena will be completed by August 2009. The facility will also include corporate boxes, individual seating, concession services, and a running track/mezzanine. In October 2007, the city announced that Bearden Engineering and Conrad Industries have been hired for the infrastructure of the facility. The facility has seen large amounts of fundraising in the 2007 and 2008. With $6 million through CAMRIF, and another $3.38 million through the Alberta Lottery Fund, the project budget sits around $14 million

Football in Brooks is also very popular. The Roadrunners and Buffalos are the two main teams in Brooks, 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 Roadrunners have gone to provincials three times as well, in 1995, 2004 and most recently, 2007.

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 and a population density of . Brooks also holds a large immigrant population of Africans, Middle-Easterners, as well as peoples from Eastern Canada, all brought to the town by jobs at the local abattoir, oil resources, and other industries in the area.

The largest age group according to the 2006 Census with 1,280 residents or about 10% were 25-29 year olds. The median age group of the city is 31.9. There are 6,625 males and 5,875 females in Brooks.

• Median family income: $56,421(2001)
• Average value of private dwelling: $125,741(2001)

Climate

City council

The Brooks City Council consists of one mayor alongside six councillors.

• Mayor Martin Shields
• Councillor Rolf Bander
• Councillor Norm Gerestein
• Councillor Clayton Johnson
• Councillor Noel Moriyama
• Councillor Bill Prentice
• Councillor Kimberley Sharkey

Local media

Radio

• AM 1340: CIBQ (AM) "Q13" (country)
• FM 101.1: CIXF-FM "The Fox" (adult contemporary)

Newspaper

• Brooks Bulletin published Tuesdays
• The Weekender published Fridays by the Brooks Bulletin
• The Brooks and County Chronicle published Mondays

Notes

External links

• City of Brooks
• Brooks Tourist site