St. Albert, Alberta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| City of St. Albert | |
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| Area | 34.61[1] km² |
| Population | 56,310 (2005)[2] |
| Population rank | 88 |
| Population density | 1,627 /km² |
| Location | |
| Altitude | 665 m |
| Incorporation | 1861 |
| Province | Alberta |
| Census division | 11 |
| MP | John G. Williams (Edmonton—St. Albert-Cons) |
| MLA | Jack Flaherty (St. Albert-Lib) Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert-PC) |
| Mayor | Paul Chalifoux |
| City manager | Bill Holtby |
| Governing body | St. Albert City Council |
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
| Postal code | T8N |
| Area code | +1-780 |
| City of St. Albert.AB.Ca | |
St. Albert is a city in Alberta, located northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River. It was originally settled as a French Catholic community, and is now an affluent suburb.
Contents |
[edit] Demographics
(According to Statistics Canada 2001 Census) [1]
- Population: 53,081 (2001); 54,588 (2003); 56,310 (2005)[2]
- Growth rate (1998-2003): 10.8%
- Total private dwellings: 19,037
- Area: 34.61 km²
- Density: 1,335 people per km²
[edit] Culture and history
St. Albert was founded in 1861 by Father Albert Lacombe, who built a chapel in the Sturgeon River valley. The chapel has since become an historic site staffed with historical interpreters and is open to the public in the summer season. A few years after its founding a group of Grey Nuns moved to St. Albert from Lac Ste. Anne.
Currently the city hosts the Northern Alberta International Children's Festival, the annual Kinsmen Rainmaker Rodeo, the St. Albert Rotary Music Festival, and one of the largest farmers' markets in western Canada. The Red Willow park trail system winds its way all through St. Albert. The two widely distributed newspapers published in St. Albert are The St. Albert Gazette and The Saint City News. Currently under construction, the West Regional Road will link St. Albert to Anthony Henday freeway in Edmonton. St. Albert's city hall is located in the heart of the city. This building is host to the public library and the Arden Theatre. St. Albert City Hall was designed by Douglas Cardinal.
St. Albert has a rich arts scene. St. Albert is home to a writers' guild and painters' guild and renowned bands like Social Code hail from St. Albert. The Arden Theatre is a popular venue for many plays and musical performances.
[edit] Hockey in St. Albert
St. Albert will have a team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League starting with the 2007/2008 season. The team will be moving from Fort Saskatchewan and will play in Servus Place.
In 2004, the city's previous Alberta Junior Hockey League team, the St. Albert Saints, which had been one of the most prestigious teams in the league during its life and produced players such as Mark Messier and Mike Comrie, moved to nearby Spruce Grove. This move, allegedly due to the age and small size of Akinsdale Arena, caused some consternation amongst the citizens. Despite a brief effort from fans to save the team, in August 2004 the newly re-named Spruce Grove Saints played their first game in Spruce Grove's Grant Fuhr Arena.
NHL hockey star Jarome Iginla, captain of the Calgary Flames, is originally from St. Albert. He played his entire minor hockey career in the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association, which included stints with the Bantam AAA Sabres and the Midget AAA Raiders. It was during the 1992-93 season with the Raiders that Iginla, then an under-age midget player, scored 87 points to lead the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey league in scoring. Following this season Iginla joined the Kamloops Blazers as a 16 year old.
Other hockey players that have played in St. Albert are Fernando Pisani, Paul Comrie, Mike Comrie, Troy Murray, Stu Barnes, Brian Benning, Steven Goertzen, Rene Bourque, Jamie Lundmark, Steve Reinprecht, Brent Gough, and Drew Stafford.
There was some controversy in 2006 when the city announced that they were renaming the Mark Messier and Troy Murray hockey rinks, and were going to offer these rights for sale. The two rinks, which together were known as Campbell Arena, were originally named after these local hockey stars shortly after the arena opened in 1992. There was such a controversy, which included an article in Sports Illustrated that mayor Paul Chalifoux decided to repeal the decision. The Campbell twin arena has since been added onto, and this has created the St. Albert Multi-Purpose Leisure Centre.
[edit] Education
St. Albert is an anomaly in that the Catholic school district is the public system, and the Protestant school district is separate. In all other areas of Alberta this is reversed, the public system is either Protestant or non-religious.
- School districts
- Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools (Public): The third largest Catholic school division in Alberta serving 17 schools and approximately 7600 students.[3]
- St. Albert Protestant Schools (Separate): Serving over 6000 students taught in a non-denominational setting.[4]
- High Schools
St. Albert is home to three English-language high schools; two Protestant and one Catholic.
- Paul Kane High School (Separate): Serving approximately 1000 students. PKHS Site
- Bellerose Composite High School (Separate): Serving approximately 1000 students. BCHS Site
- St. Albert Catholic High School (Public): Serving approximately 700 students. SACHS Site
St. Albert also has a French-language high school in the Catholic system.
- Ecole Secondaire Sainte-Marguerite d'Youville: Serving approximately 150 high school students (including junior high students the school population is approximately 450). ESSMY Site
[edit] Religion
St. Albert was founded by the French Catholic community, but today it is an even split between Catholics and Protestants. A few of the churches are St. Albert Christian Reformed Church, Christ Community, Sturgeon Valley Baptist and many others.
St. Albert was originally established as a Catholic missionary outpost by Father Albert Lacombe, who used it to minister to the local natives. The chapel remains.
St. Albert is also home to the North Central Francophone School Board. Their schools name is "La Mission" located in the Heritage Lakes sub-division.
[edit] Attractions
In September 2006, a 47 million dollar multi-purpose leisure centre, Servus Credit Union Place was built. Included are a recreational pool, kid's play area, the already exisitng Troy Murray and Mark Messier hockey rinks, a 2000 seat performance rink, two soccer fields, 3 basketball courts, a large excercise room featuring state of the art equipment, a running track and more. This was a highly controversial building as many of St. Albert residents thought it was unnecessary[citation needed]; however most of the voters in the civic election favoured the construction of this facility.
The International Children's Festival in St. Albert is one of the longest running Children's Festivals in North America, attracting over 40,000 participants over 5 days, at the end of May. During the five days of the Festival, children experience sights and sounds of many different cultures while learning through the medium nearest and dearest to their hearts - by playing! The mainstage events feature a host of international artists from Scotland, Netherlands, USA, Nunavut, Mexico, Cuba, New Zealand, and (of course) Canada offering performances of puppetry, music, dance, acrobatics, clowning and theatre that will amaze and delight.
Another attraction to St. Albert is the Kinsmen Rainmaker rodeo. Each year, the rodeo starts out with a parade that winds its way through the heart of St. Albert. There are always several entries, including floats, antique automobiles, marching bands, horses and carriages and much more. After the parade, the rodeo begins, with several exciting wild west events, midway, and musical performances and concerts.
The Outdoor Farmers' Market, held in downtown St. Albert, is Western Canada’s largest outdoor farmer's market, attracting over 10,000 people every Saturday from July to September. You can find locally-grown fresh produce, hand made products and crafts and listen to the music of the buskers.
As many as 6,000 participants come to St. Albert to enjoy Rock'n August, a week-long festival held to celebrate the rumbles of chrome pipes and the rim shots of classic Rock and Roll music. Hotrodders come from kilometres around with their masterpieces to show them off and look at the creations of others as well.
[edit] Other information
- Mayor: Paul Chalifoux
- Surrounding municipalities: Edmonton, Sturgeon
[edit] References
- ^ a b Statistics Canada 2001 Census (June 2002) - St. Albert Census Profile. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ a b Alberta Municipal Affairs (February 2007). 2006 Municipal Census. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
- ^ Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools
- ^ St. Albert Protestant Schools
[edit] External links
 Subdivisions of Alberta |
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| Census divisions | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 |
| Regions | Calgary Region · Edmonton Capital Region · Calgary-Edmonton Corridor · Central Alberta · Northern Alberta · Southern Alberta |
| Cities | Airdrie · Brooks · Calgary · Camrose · Cold Lake · Edmonton · Fort Saskatchewan · Grande Prairie · Leduc · Lethbridge · Lloydminster · Medicine Hat · Red Deer · Spruce Grove · St. Albert · Wetaskiwin |
| Communities | Counties and municipal districts · Towns · Villages · Hamlets · Indian reserves · Métis |
| Other | School districts · Regional Health Authorities |
