Cranbrook, British Columbia

Cranbrook, British Columbia is a city in southeast British Columbia, seat of the Regional District of East Kootenay. As of the 2007 the population is 21,167, spread over an area of 25.14 square kilometres for a population density of 726.6 persons per square kilometre.

Cranbrook is home to the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel which presents static exhibits of passenger rail cars built in the 1920s for the CPR and in the 1900s for the Spokane International Railway. It is also the home of the Kootenay Ice, a WHL hockey team. Cranbrook is also home to many NHL players to where it has won 11 Stanley Cup Championships within 13 years. (1994-95 to 2006-07).

History

Originally inhabited by the Ktunaxa natives the land that Cranbrook now occupies was bought by European settlers, notably Colonel James Baker who named his newly acquired land Cranbrook after his home in Cranbrook, Kent, England

In 1898 Baker had successfully convinced Canadian Pacific Railway to establish their Crowsnest Pass line through Cranbrook rather than nearby Fort Steele. With that accomplishment Cranbrook became the major centre of the region, while Fort Steele declined; however, the latter is today a preserved heritage town.

On November 1, 1905, Cranbrook was incorporated as a city.

Schools and Colleges

• Amy Woodland Elementary
• Gordon Terrace Elementary
• Highlands Elementary
• Kootenay Orchards Elementary
• Laurie Middle School
• Mt. Baker Secondary School
• Parkland Middle School
• Pinewood Elementary
• Steeples Elementary
• T.M. Roberts Elementary
• College Of The Rockies

Geography

While much of the city is relatively flat, Cranbrook is surrounded by many rising hills where many residential homes are located In addition Cranbrook faces the Purcell Mountains to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the north and east.

Climate

Environment Canada reports Cranbrook as having the most sunshine hours of any BC city at approximately 2228.6 hours annually. Because of that it is a fairly dry city throughout the year, and when precipitation does fall a good percentage of it will be in the form of snow. Environment Canada also states that the city experiences some of the lightest wind speeds year-round, has few foggy days, and has among the highest average barometric pressure of any Canadian city. (See link)

Frost-free days average 110 days, typically occurring between May 26 to September 14.

Mean daily temperatures range from -8.3°C to 18.2°C. However, temperatures can range from -30°C in the winter to 35°C+ in the summer months.

Education

The East Kootenay city is home to the main campus of the College of the Rockies, which has over 2500 full and part-time students from over 21 countries

Public schools are run by School District 5 Southeast Kootenay, consisting of seven elementary schools and two middle schools that feed into the city's only high school: Mount Baker Secondary School, home to approximately 1000 students. Prior to 2004 the middle schools were referred to as junior high schools housing grades 8-10 rather than the current 7-9. However, due to declining enrollment the school district adopted the new system.

There is also a local home-school network.

Transportation

Cranbrook is at the junction of major highways 3 and 93/95, and due to its close proximity to the borders of Alberta and the United States it is an important transportation hub.

Approximately 9 km north is the Canadian Rockies International Airport, which is currently undergoing an expansion including the lengthening of its runway from 6000 to 8000 feet in order to accommodate a limited number of international flights and an expansion to the Terminal for more passengers, the airport will hold it grand opening on October 17th 2008. The airlines of the airport are Air Canada Jazz to Vancouver and Calgary, and Pacific Coastal Airlines to Vancouver, and Delta Airlines to Salt Lake City, Utah beginning December 17th 2008, and there has also been positve thoughts on flying to Buffalo, NY, USA to access the Toronto area.

Cranbrook also has a public transit system, operating buses on seven different routes.

February 11, 1978, Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737-200, crashed in Cranbrook, killing 44 of the 50 people onboard.

Notable people

• Joseph Cross, Artist
• Ray Allison, retired NHL player
• Greg Andrusak, retired NHL player
• Brent Carver, Professional stage actor
• Glen Cochrane, retired NHL player
• Jim Hiller, retired NHL player
• Juggernaut, professional wrestler
• Jon Klemm, NHL player
• Most of the members of the rock group Lillix: Louise Burns, Lacey-Lee Evin, and Tasha-Ray Evin
• Brad Lukowich, NHL player
• Donald C. MacDonald, politician
• Paul Machnau, professional skateboarder
• ManWoman, artist and author
• Jason Marshall, NHL player
• Bob McAneeley, retired WHA player
• Ted McAneeley, retired NHL and WHA player
• Bob Murdoch and Don Murdoch, retired NHL players
• Rob Niedermayer and Scott Niedermayer, NHL players
• Kate Pullinger, author
• Tom Renney, NHL coach
• Ben Rutledge, Olympic Gold Medal Rower, Mens 8 Canadian National Team, Beijing Summer Olympics 2008
• Corey Spring, retired NHL player
• Steve Yzerman, retired NHL player
• Joel Savage, retired NHL player

Local Media

Newspapers

• Cranbrook Daily Townsman - Daily paper
• Kootenay Advertiser - Weekly paper , Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Job Resources

• Ekjobs.ca - Job board for Cranbrook Area

Radio Stations

• 101.3 FM - CBC Radio One
• 102.9 FM - CHDR, rock
• 104.7 FM - CHBZ, country
• 106.5 FM - VOAR, religious

Television Repeaters

• Channel 5: CFCN, CTV - Lethbridge, Alberta
• Channel 13: CBC, CBC - Vancouver, British Columbia
• Channel 10: SHAW, SHAW - Cranbrook, British Columbia

Trivia

• From 1995 to 2004 every Stanley Cup winning team had a player who was either born or raised in Cranbrook

Sister Cities

• - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (United States)

External links

• Official City of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada Website
• Cranbrook Community Nutshell
• Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada 2006 Census Community Profile
• Job Board Resource for Cranbrook Area