Lethbridge, Alberta

Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is Alberta's fourth largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer. At 127.19 km², it is the third largest in area after Calgary and Edmonton. It is located near the Canadian Rockies and is 210 km (130 miles) southeast of Calgary on the Oldman River. Citizens of Lethbridge are called Lethbridgians.

History

The city developed from drift mines opened by Nicholas Sheran (1874) and the North Western Coal and Navigation Company (1882), whose president was William Lethbridge.

After the US Army outlawed alcohol trading in 1869 with the Blood nation in Montana, traders John J. Healy and Alfred B. Hamilton started the whiskey trading post Fort Hamilton, which later came to be nicknamed Fort Whoop-Up.

The whiskey trade eventually lead to the massacre of many Assiniboines in the Cypress Hills in 1873. As a result, the North West Mounted Police were sent to the area to stop the trade and establish order. The NWMP arrived at Fort Whoop-Up on 9 October 1874. For the next twelve years, the fort continued to trade and host a NWMP post.

The first rail line was built in Lethbridge, being completed 28 August 1885 by the Alberta Railway and Coal Company. Because of the rail industry's dependence of coal and the CPR's immigration efforts to settle southern Alberta, Lethbridge became instrumental in the economic success of the region. In the mid-1980s, the rail yards in downtown Lethbridge were moved to nearby Kipp and Lethbridge ceased operating as a hub for rail traffic in the province.

Neighbourhoods

Lethbridge is split into three geographical areas: north, south and west. West Lethbridge is separated from the other two by the Oldman River. North and South Lethbridge are separated by the Crowsnest Highway and the CPR rail line.

The newest of the three neighbourhoods, West Lethbridge (pop. 27,154)Economic Development Lethbridge, "Lethbridge Census 2006 - City population up 1.96% per cent since 2005", 25 May 2006 is home to the University of Lethbridge. The bulk of the city's growth since the early 1990s has been on the west side. It also has the youngest population of the three.

The north side (pop. 23,241) was originally populated as a result of numerous coal mines in the area. It has the oldest population of the three neighbourhoods and is home to multiple industrial parks.

South Lethbridge (pop. 28,318) is the commercial heart of the city. It contains the downtown core, as well as the bulk of retail and hospitality establishments. Lethbridge Community College is also located here.

Economy

Lethbridge is the commercial, distribution, financial and industrial centre of southern Alberta (although Medicine Hat plays a significant role in southeastern Alberta).

Industry sectors

According to the 2001 federal census, Lethbridge industry sectors make up the following shares of the economy:

Health and education services: 21%
Wholesale and retail trade: 17%
Leisure, hospitality and food services: 13%
Primary and construction: 10%
Manufacturing: 10%
Professional and business services: 10%
Public administration: 5%
Transportation and warehousing: 5%
Finance and insurance: 3%
Other: 6%

Top ten employers

In 2005, the top ten employers in Lethbridge were as follows:

Chinook Health Region (including Lethbridge Regional Hospital): 1,900
University of Lethbridge: 1,798
City of Lethbridge: 1,200
Lethbridge School District: 975
Lethbridge Community College: 948
Alberta Government offices: 804
Convergys: 700
Sun Life: 500
Holy Spirit School Division: 500
Canada Safeway: 489

Major attractions

The Lethbridge Viaduct, commonly known as the High Level Bridge, is the longest railway bridge of its kind in the world. Construction was completed in 1909 on what was then the western edge of the city.

Indian Battle Park, located in the coulees of the Oldman River, commemorates the last battle between the Cree and the Blackfoot First Nations in 1870.

Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, located in south Lethbridge, was opened in 1967 in celebration for the Canadian centennial. It was a royal event with Japan’s Prince and Princess Takamatsu leading a list of special guests.

Fort Whoop-Up, was also known as Fort Hamilton; during the late 1800s it served as a centre for various illegal activities. Fort Whoop-Up was first built in 1869 by J.J. Healy and A.B. Hamilton with the purpose of being a whiskey post. Its first structure was destroyed by fire within a year of its construction — whether this was an accident or deliberate arson is unknown. A second, more sturdy structure later replaced Fort Whoop-Up.

Sir Alexander Galt Museum, is the local culture and arts museum in the Lethbridge area. It once served as the main hospital in the Lethbridge area during the late 1800's and early 1900's. The attractions include many local archives and local exhibits, such as the coal mining days and the Oldman River valley artifacts. It is currently undergoing major construction for future accommodation for this fast and growing city of Lethbridge.

Paradise Canyon Golf Resort, located in the extreme southwest part of the city, this world class golf course and resort has all the major amenities a large city course would have. The eighteen hole course lies alongside of the Oldman river. This extreme location of the course is often prone to damage from spring floods from the water runoff of the nearby rocky mountains.

Skyline

There are several prominent structures on Lethbridge's skyline, some of which are unique to the city. Probably the most familiar (and definitely the oldest) landmark is the High Level Bridge. Nearly 100 years old, it is often displayed on tourist postcards and official city publications.

Another prominent landmark is the post office. While not as widely recognized as the High Level Bridge, it is one of the most unique buildings in Lethbridge, especially when compared to other buildings in southern Alberta. The four-storey building was built at the turn of the 20th century and is crowned by a functioning clock tower.

The remainder of prominent buildings in Lethbridge's downtown skyline consist of office towers such as the following:

Haig Tower (16 storeys)
Skyline Terrace (15 storeys)
Landmark Apartments (14 storeys)
Lethbridge Centre Tower (11 storeys)
Stafford Place (10 storeys)
Lethbridge City Hall (6 storeys)
Chancery Court (6 storeys)
BLT Centre (5 storeys)
Historic Fire Hall #1 (5 storeys)

In addition, some other prominent landmarks outside of downtown are the water tower, which was originally built in 1958 and sold to a private developer who converted it into a restaurant, and the Alberta Terminals grain elevators.

Education

Lethbridge is home to the University of Lethbridge, founded in 1967. The University Hall building at the University of Lethbridge—designed by Arthur Erickson—is one of the most significant examples of modern architecture in Canada. It is the only internationally recognized building in Lethbridge, and one of the few in Alberta.

Lethbridge Community College, founded in 1957, was the first public college in the country.

The post secondary student population in the city is approximately 15,000 at both the University of Lethbridge and the Lethbridge Community College, which is roughly 20% of the city's population.

Grades Kindergarten to 12 are administered in Lethbridge by the public Lethbridge School District and the Catholic Holy Spirit Division.

Arts and culture

Lethbridge is home to many venues and organizations promoting the arts. For example, founded in 1957, the Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge is the largest organization in Lethbridge dedicated to preserving and enhancing the local arts.

Lethbridge was designated a Cultural Capital of Canada for the 2004-2005 season.

Music

The Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra has been performing in the city since 1960. Since its inception, it has resulted in spin-off music groups, such as the Lethbridge Musical Theatre and Southern Alberta Chamber Orchestra. Vox Musica is a community choir based at the University of Lethbridge and has been performing since 1984.

Lethbridge also features a small, but strong independent music scene. Various local pubs and nightclubs regularly host local acts.

Theatre

In addition to productions presented by the University of Lethbridge's theatre department, Lethbridge is also home to the New West Theatre, which draws in audiences of up to 20,000 during its nine-week season. New West Theatre performs at the Genevieve E. Yates Memorial Centre, using its two theatres: the 500-seat proscenium Yates Theatre and the 180-seat black box Sterndale Bennet Theatre.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Lethbridge has a predominantly white population with roughly only 1 out of 10 persons being non-EuropeanLethbridge Community ProfileStatistics Canada. 2002. 2001 Community Profiles. Released June 27, 2002. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE. Of those, over a third are aboriginal, most of whom come from the nearby Peigan and Kainai nations. Of the remaining 63%, Chinese and Japanese make up the largest portion at over 1,200 each, about 40% together.

Lethbridge is also home to Latin Americans (6%), South Asians (4%), Southeast Asians (4%), Blacks (3%), Filipinos (3%), and Koreans (1%).

Religion

The most commonly observed faith in Lethbridge is Christianity. According to the 2001 federal census, there were 50,245 residents who indicated they were Christian. Of these, 62.6% were Protestant, 30.4% were Catholic, 0.6% were Christian Orthodox, and 6.3% were unspecified. The remainder of those who professed religious affiliation amounted to roughly 2%.

Of those who indicated religious affiliation, but were not Christian, 70% were Buddhist, 14% were Muslim, 6% were Hindu, 5% were Jewish and 4% were Sikh.

While Statistics Canada does not include numbers of Mormons separately in their census reports, an estimated 10,000 adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Community of Christ live in Lethbridge. At between nine and ten percent of the city's population, this is significantly higher than the national average of 0.5%.

Sports and recreation

Lethbridge's multipurpose arena, the Enmax Centre (formerly known as the Sportsplex) was built for the 1975 Canada Winter Games. The 6,500-seat facility has hosted concerts, three-ring circuses, multicultural events, national curling championships, basketball events, banquets, skating events and the Lethbridge Hurricanes, a major WHL franchise. Some of the features of the arena are a running track, racquetball and squash courts, a full-size ice rink, and a large indoor climbing wall. There is also an outdoor sports field with capacity for 2,000 people adjacent to the centre.

In 1997, the 58,000 square foot Lethbridge Soccer Centre was built directly south of the Enmax Centre and added two regulation size indoor soccer pitches to the complex.

Lethbridge is 150 km east of the Castle Mountain ski resort. It is also home to three golf courses (including the award-winning Paradise Canyon Golf Resort) and within 30 km of several others.

Current Amateur teams

Lethbridge Bulls (Baseball/Western Major Baseball League)
Lethbridge Hurricanes (Hockey/Western Hockey League)

Transportation

Mass transit in Lethbridge consists of 36 buses (with an average age of 10 years) covering most of the city on over a dozen routes. Traditionally, all bus routes in the city started and ended downtown. In the early 21st century, however, cross-town and shuttle routes have been introduced. The bus system is managed by Lethbridge Transit.

The Parks and Recreation department maintains the city-wide, 30-kilometre, pedestrian/cyclist Coal Banks Trail system (map). The system was designed to connect the Oldman River valley with other areas of the city, including Pavan Park in the north, Henderson Lake in the east, highways 4 and 5 in the south and a loop in West Lethbridge (including University Drive and McMaster Blvd).

Four provincial highways (3, 4, 5, and 25) run through or terminate in Lethbridge. This has led to the creation of major arterial roads (including Mayor Magrath Drive, University Drive and Scenic Drive). This, and the fact Lethbridge is located on the CANAMEX Corridor, has led to Lethbridge being a major shipping destination, with many shipping lines having depots located in the city.

Lethbridge is a short drive north from the United States border via highways 4 and 5; and a two hour drive (210 km) south of Calgary, Alberta via highways 2 and 3. Highways 2, 3 and 4 form part of the CANAMEX trade route between Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

In addition to having significant road service, Lethbridge is very close to the Lethbridge County Airport and the CPR rail yards in Kipp. The rail yards were moved to Kipp, just west of the city, from downtown Lethbridge in 1983 to make way for commercial expansion. The county airport provides commercial flights to several Alberta cities (such as Calgary and Edmonton) and at the end of 2006 to Mexico, as well as private and charter flights to various other destinations. The airport also provides customs services for any flights coming in from the United States.

Major roads

The following are arterial and collector roads in Lethbridge. The numbers listed are the total number of maximum vehicle traffic during weekdays for 2005.2005 Traffice Flow Map, City of Lethbridge website Only roads reaching at least 6,000 vehicles per day—which is the cut off for a "major collector" classification—are listed below.

Road	Weekday traffic	Lanes
Whoop-up Drive	40,600	6
Mayor Magrath Drive South	34,000	6
Crowsnest Highway	25,000	4
University Drive	23,000	2-4
Stafford Drive	23,000	4
6 Avenue South	21,000	4
13 Street	19,200	2-4
23 Street North	18,200	2-4
Scenic Drive	16,200	2-4
5 Avenue North	14,000	2
43 Street	13,300	2-4
McMaster Boulevard/Jerry Potts Boulevard	13,200	2
10 Avenue South/South Parkside Drive South	10,700	2
16 Avenue South	8,100	2
9 Avenue North	7,200	2
Stafford Avenue/St. Edwards Boulevard/18 Avenue North/Park Boulevard Boulevard	6,500	2
26 Avenue North	6,100	2

Geography & climate

The city of Lethbridge is located at degrees 49.7° north latitude and -112.833° east longitude and covers an area of 121.83 km². The city is intersected by the Oldman River, the valley of which has been turned into one of the largest urban park systems in North America at 755 hectares (1,865 acres) of protected land.

Satellite communities

The following are satellite communities of Lethbridge:

Climate

Lethbridge has a moderate continental climate with an average maximum temperature of 12.3 °C (54.14 °F). With roughly 2400 hours of sunshine per year, Lethbridge is one of the sunniest cities in Canada. Average precipitation amounts to 386.3 mm (15.21 in). With an average wind speed of 18.20 km/h (11.31 mph), Lethbridge is the eighth windiest city in Canada.Weather Winners It places second in the country for the most windy days of 40 km/h or more.

Lethbridge winters have the highest temperatures in the prairies. Its relatively mild winters are a result of several geographical factors:

Close proximity to the Rocky Mountains protects it from strong northwest and southwest winds, often associated with blizzard conditions.
High elevation (928.70 m)
Frequent chinooks

The summers in Lethbridge are relatively cooler than most other locations in the prairies, also a result of its higher elevation.

Month	Record Low	Average Low	Average Temp	Average High	Record High	Average Rain	Average Snow
January	-42.8 (Jan 3, 1950)	-13.8	-7.8	-1.8	16.7 (Jan 19, 1944)	0.1 mm	21.9 cm
February	-42.2 (Feb 9, 1939)	-10.7	-4.6	1.5	21.8 (Feb 27, 1992)	0.4 mm	13.5 cm
March	-38.0 (Mar 8, 2002)	-6.5	-0.2	6.0	26.8 (Mar 30, 2004)	1.4 mm	25.5 cm
April	-25.6 (Apr 11, 1940)	-0.9	6.0	12.9	31.1 (Apr 28, 1939)	16.1 mm	16.3 cm
May	-11.7 (May 1, 1954)	-4.2	11.3	18.2	34.2 (May 30, 1986)	49.4 mm	4.0 cm
June	-1.7 (Jun 1, 1951)	8.6	15.5	22.3	38.3 (Jun 23, 1941)	63.0 mm	0.0 cm
July	0.9 (Jul 16, 1999)	10.5	18.0	25.5	39.4 (Jul 10, 1973)	47.5 mm	0.0 cm
August	-1.0 (Aug 25, 1992)	10.0	17.7	25.4	38.9 (Aug 3, 2001)	45.1 mm	0.8 cm
September	-9.4 (Sep 25, 1972)	5.1	12.6	20.1	36.7 (Sep 3, 1950)	37.6 mm	2.1 cm
October	-26.7 (Oct 31, 1984)	0.0	7.0	14.0	31.7 (Oct 4, 1943)	8.8 mm	10.4 cm
November	-34.7 (Nov 21, 1996)	-7.2	-1.5	4.3	22.8 (Nov 6, 1949)	1.2 mm	17.3 cm
December	-42.8 (Dec 29, 1968)	-12.0	-6.2	-0.2	19.6 (Dec 30, 1984)	0.5 mm	18.8 cm

Weather Records

Type	Record	Date
Hottest temperature	39.4 °C (103 °F)	July 10, 1973
Coldest temperature	-42.8 °C (-45 °F)	January 3, 1950
Hottest humidex	40.9 °C (106 °F)	July 11, 2002
Coldest windchill	-55.7 °C (-68 °F)	December 28, 1968
Most rain in one day	85.4 mm (3.36 in)	May 23, 1980
Most snow in one day	55.1 cm (21.7 in)	September 21, 1968
Deepest snow cover	86.0 cm (34 in)	April 30, 1967
Highest sustained wind	121 km/h (75 mph)	November 19, 1962
Highest wind gust	171 km/h (106 mph)	November 19, 1962
Highest solar radiation	17.4 RF4	July 14, 1975

Government

Lethbridgians elect representatives to the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. One Member of Parliament (MPs) representing Lethbridge sits in the House of Commons in Ottawa, and another 2 Members of Alberta's legislative assembly (MLAs) sit in the Legislative Assembly in Edmonton. Being Alberta's fourth most populous city, many provincial offices are located in the city.

Lethbridge's local government consists of 8 elected councillors, who along with the mayor, make up the Lethbridge City Council. Lethbridge elects a new government every three years, in October. The City of Lethbridge has an operating budget of dollar|C$" target="_blank" >^*200 million, more than half of which is received through property taxation.2006–2008 Preliminary Operating Budget Overview, City of Lethbridge

Sister cities

Anyang (China) Culver City, California (United States) Timashevsk (Russia) Towada, Aomori (Japan)

Police Services

Lethbridge Regional Police Service
Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Local media

Newspapers

Lethbridge Herald - Daily paper. Owned by Horizon Operations Canada
Southern Sun Times - Weekly paper

Radio Stations

88.3 FM - CKXU, University of Lethbridge campus radio
91.7 FM - CBBC, CBC Radio Two
93.3 FM - CJBZ, adult contemporary
95.5 FM - CHLB, country music
97.1 FM - CJTS, religious
99.3 FM - CKUA, public
100.1 FM - CBRL, CBC Radio One
104.3 FM - CHFA-1, La Première Chaîne
106.7 FM - CJRX, active rock
107.7 FM - CFRV, modern adult contemporary

Television Stations

Channel 2: CKAL-1, Citytv
Channel 7: CISA, Global
Channel 10: CBRT-6, CBC
Channel 13: CFCN-5, CTV
Channel 17: CJIL, The Miracle Channel
Channel 23: CBXFT-3, SRC

Trivia

The City of Lethbridge is mentioned in the closing credits of Hunch, a show-within-a-show, during the 17th season finale of The Simpsons.

External links

City of Lethbridge - Official website for the city
Economic Development Lethbridge - Official economic development website
Lethbridge Herald
Statistics Canada community profile
Lethbridge Regional Police Service

References

Cities in Alberta | Lethbridge, Alberta | Lethbridge Region

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