Fort San, Saskatchewan

Fort San, Saskatchewan
Resort Village
Fort San looking towards Fort Qu'Appelle, 1920s
Fort San, Saskatchewan
Coordinates: 50°48′09″N 103°49′37″W / 50.80250°N 103.82694°W / 50.80250; -103.82694Coordinates: 50°48′09″N 103°49′37″W / 50.80250°N 103.82694°W / 50.80250; -103.82694
Country Canada
Province Saskatchewan
Region Central
Census division 9
Rural Municipality North Qu'Appelle
Established 1917
Government
 • Governing body Fort San Village Council
 • Mayor Blair Walkington
 • Administrator Marcy Johnson
Area
 • Total 2.90 km2 (1.12 sq mi)
Population (2016)
 • Total 222
 • Density 76.7/km2 (199/sq mi)
Time zone UTC-6 (CST)
Postal code S0K 4P0
Area code(s) 306
Highways Highway 56
[1][2][3][4]

Fort San is a former sanatorium and then summer arts camp, now a resort village, surrounded by the rural municipality of North Qu'Appelle No. 187, Saskatchewan, Canada. The village is located approximately 77 km northeast of Regina and 3 km west of Fort Qu'Appelle. With the closure of the sanatorium the area was repurposed originally as a venue to house the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts and later as a resort village housing the Echo Valley Conference Centre.

History

Fort San band circa 1920 by and/or for patients
Edward Prince of Wales at Fort San during 1919 royal tour during which he acquired the Bedingfield ranch near Pekisko, Alberta.

Fort San was opened in 1917 during a time when tuberculosis infections were increasing, and was built to house 358 patients. It was a self-sufficient institution with vegetable gardens, livestock, a power house, and an extensive library for patients provided by World War I veterans.

Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts

After tuberculosis became less of a threat in the early 1960s, the sanatorium building's purpose was changed to house the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts in 1967. For thirty years, thousands of young people received summer tuition in dance, music, visual art, writing and theatre. Through the 1970s the facilities were expanded and improved to support the school over its 30 years. "Over 1,200 children and adults attended the seven-week program at the School during the summer of 1968."[5] The school was closed in 1991 due to lack of funding.[6] The Sage Hill Writing Experience is one of the spin-offs of the school that continued to operate using a variety of venues around the province.[7] Existing facilities were expanded and improved throughout the 1970s as the popularity of the School increased.

HMCS Qu'Appelle Cadet Summer Training Centre

Fort San was run as a Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Camp named HMCS Qu'Appelle Cadet Summer Training Centre during the summers of the nineties to 2004. The programs offered were:

  • Music
  • Sailing
  • General Training

One of the operating rooms was even converted to a 4 bunk barrack room and the cadets taking sailing or general training generally slept directly over the morgue.

It is an urban legend that Fort San is haunted by patients who died there in its early years. Several authors have documented different accounts of strange occurrences which transpired in the time since it was decommissioned as a sanatorium.[8]

Echo Valley Conference Centre

The Echo Valley Conference Centre, a provincial government run conference facility is operated out of the historic building on the site. The conference centre makes use of Arts and Craft/Tudor Revival style building built from 1912 to 1922 for use by the sanitarium.[9] On September 30, 2004 a decision was made by the Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation to shut down the Centre and offer it for sale.[10]

Demographics

Canada census – Fort San, Saskatchewan community profile
2016 2011 2006
Population: 222 (18.7% from 2011) 187 (-13.0% from 2006) 215 (-10.0% from 2001)
Land area: 2.90 km2 (1.12 sq mi) 2.90 km2 (1.12 sq mi) 2.90 km2 (1.12 sq mi)
Population density: 76.7/km2 (199/sq mi) 64.6/km2 (167/sq mi) 74.2/km2 (192/sq mi)
Median age: 47 (M: 46.3, F: 47.7) 52.6 (M: 53.0, F: 52.2) 50.5 (M: 51.1, F: 50.0)
Total private dwellings: 178 155 168
Median household income: $N/A $N/A $N/A
References: 2016[11] 2011[12] 2006[13] earlier[14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ National Archives, Archivia Net. "Post Offices and Postmasters". Archived from the original on 2006-10-06.
  2. ↑ Government of Saskatchewan, MRD Home. "Municipal Directory System". Archived from the original on November 21, 2008.
  3. ↑ Canadian Textiles Institute. (2005). "CTI Determine your provincial constituency". Archived from the original on 2007-09-11.
  4. ↑ Commissioner of Canada Elections, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (2005). "Elections Canada On-line". Archived from the original on 2007-04-21.
  5. ↑ "SASKATCHEWAN SUMMER SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan)". University of Regina. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  6. ↑ Qu'Appelle - Stories From the San
  7. ↑ "HOW SAGE HILL HAPPENED". Sage Hill Writing Experience. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  8. ↑ Jo-Anne Christensen. Ghost Stories of Saskatchewan. Hounslow Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0-88882-177-5.
  9. ↑ Canada's Historic Places - A Federal Provincial and Territorial Collaboration. "Echo Valley Conference Centre (Fort San) Fort San, Saskatchewan, S0G, Canada". Retrieved 2011-02-19.
  10. ↑ "Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation; page 12" (PDF). Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  11. ↑ "2016 Community Profiles". Canada 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. February 21, 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  12. ↑ "2011 Community Profiles". Canada 2011 Census. Statistics Canada. July 5, 2013. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  13. ↑ "2006 Community Profiles". Canada 2006 Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  14. ↑ "2001 Community Profiles". Canada 2001 Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012.
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