PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Fort San
Fort San
Resort village
	Resort Village of Fort San
	Fort San looking towards Fort Qu'Appelle, 1920s
	Fort San
	Coordinates: 50°48′00″N 103°49′08″W / 50.8°N 103.819°W
Country	Canada
Province	Saskatchewan
Census division	6
Rural municipality	RM of North Qu'Appelle No. 187
Incorporated	September 1, 1987
Government
• Mayor	Steve Helfrick
• Governing body	Resort Village Council
• Administrator	Geri Kreway
Area (2021)
• Land	2.55 km2 (0.98 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	233
• Density	91.4/km2 (237/sq mi)
Time zone	CST
• Summer (DST)	CST
Postal code	S0K 4P0
Area code(s)	306 and 639
Highway(s)	Highway 56
Waterway(s)	Echo Lake
Website	Official website

Fort San (2016 population: 222) is a resort village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 6. It is on the shores of Echo Lake of the Fishing Lakes in the Rural Municipality of North Qu'Appelle No. 187. It is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Fort Qu'Appelle and approximately 77 kilometres (48 mi) northeast of Regina.

Prior to becoming a resort village, Fort San was originally a sanatorium. 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.^[2]

Seventy years earlier, Fort San was opened as a sanatorium in 1917 during a time when tuberculosis 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 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

Population history
(1991–2021)
Year	Pop.	±%
1991	261	—
1996	265	+1.5%
2001	239	−9.8%
2006	215	−10.0%
2011	187	−13.0%
2016	222	+18.7%
2021	233	+5.0%
Source: Statistics Canada via Saskatchewan Bureau of Statistics^[11]^[12]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort San had a population of 233 living in 120 of its 203 total private dwellings, a change of 5% from its 2016 population of 222. With a land area of 2.55 km² (0.98 sq mi), it had a population density of 91.4/km² (236.7/sq mi) in 2021.^[4]

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Resort Village of Fort San recorded a population of 222 living in 93 of its 178 total private dwellings, a 18.7% change from its 2011 population of 187. With a land area of 2.9 km² (1.1 sq mi), it had a population density of 76.6/km² (198.3/sq mi) in 2016.^[13]

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.^[3] The mayor is Blair Walkington and its administrator is Victor Goodman.^[3]