Fort San ( 2016 population: ) is a

resort village A resort village is a type of incorporated urban municipality in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. A resort village is created from an organized hamlet by the Minister of Municipal Affairs by ministerial order via section 51 of ''The Municip ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

within Census Division No. 6. It is on the shores of Echo Lake of the

Fishing Lakes The Fishing Lakes, also called the Calling Lakes or the Qu'Appelle Lakes, are a chain of four lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley cottage country about 40 miles (64 km) to the north-east of Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. T ...

in the Rural Municipality of North Qu'Appelle No. 187. It is west of

Fort Qu'Appelle Fort Qu'Appelle is a town in Canadian province of Saskatchewan located in the Qu'Appelle River valley north-east of Regina, between Echo and Mission Lakes of the Fishing Lakes. It is not to be confused with the once-significant nearby t ...

and approximately northeast of Regina. Prior to becoming a resort village, Fort San was originally a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

. Following the closure of the sanatorium, the area was first repurposed as a venue to house the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts. The resort village now houses the Echo Valley Conference Centre.

History

Fort San incorporated as a resort village on September 1, 1987. Seventy years earlier, Fort San was opened as a sanatorium in 1917 during a time when

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

infections were increasing. The facility 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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." The school was closed in 1991 due to lack of funding. 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. 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 An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

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.

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. On September 30, 2004 a decision was made by the Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation to shut down the Centre and offer it for sale.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Fort San had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by

, the Resort Village of Fort San recorded a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Government

The Resort Village of Fort San is governed by an elected municipal council and an appointed administrator that meets on the third Tuesday of every month. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

is Blair Walkington and its administrator is Victor Goodman.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Resort villages in Saskatchewan North Qu'Appelle No. 187, Saskatchewan Division No. 6, Saskatchewan Hospital buildings completed in 1917 Reportedly haunted locations in Saskatchewan Tuberculosis sanatoria in Canada