|
| Geography | The town of Burstall is located on Highway 321 close to the Alberta border. It is about an hour away from Medicine Hat, Alberta, four and a half hours away from Regina and three and a half hours from Saskatoon. The South Saskatchewan River is about 15 minutes to the west. Five large gas plants are located within 5 to 10 minutes of the town. The Great Sandhills are just a short 3 to 5 minute drive to the North.
The Burstall area is blessed with an abundance of wild life including the Richardson Ground Squirrel, Prairie Rattlesnake, White Tail Deer, Moose, Sharp-Tailed Grouse, Horned Own Chicks, Prairie Coyote, Antelope, Cedar Waxwing and Canada Geese.
| | History | All the records on the history of Burstall were destroyed in a fire in 1925. The Early History of Burstall written by Sheila Schmidt, was put together based on the recollections of the seniors in the community. This information was taken from that book.
Land for the village site was obtained from Dave Helmer. The original owner of this land was Joseph Kuntz. Burstall was incorporated as a village on May 31, 1921 and was named after General Burstall who served in the First World War. Forty five years later on November 1, 1966 Burstall was incorporated as a town.
With the building of the village, merchants began arriving and setting up numerous shops. On July 17th, 1925 a fire broke out in the jail section of the Municipal office (it is believed this is where it started) destroying many businesses on the south side and east side of the street. Businesses that were lost included a pool room, Municipal Office, Post Office, a laundry facility and a building which housed a cafe and a store.
| | Economic Information | Burstall is known as the Turbo Expander Capital of the world. A turbo expander is a turbine-like device used to cool plant inlet gas by reducing its pressure. These are used in all 5 gas plants which are within minutes of Burstall.
The population of Burstall is 410 and it is a thriving community thanks in part to the strong gas industry in the area. There are five companies that have gas plants in this area; Conoco, BP Canada, EnCana, Atco and TransCanada Pipelines. There are 21 other employers in Burstall.
| | Attractions | Burstall boasts many recreational facilities for its size. It has a large indoor swimming pool with wading pool and jacuzzi, artificial ice arena, a 4 sheet curling rink, a ball park with 5 diamonds, 2 children's playgrounds, a three lane bowling alley, a large well equipped fitness centre, a 9 hole grass greens golf course with a clubhouse and a community hall.
There are a number of attractions in the area as well. A pipeline suspension bridge, built in 1957, is situated 19 kilometres (kms) west of Burstall. At the time this was the best way to transport natural gas across the South Saskatchewan River. The bridge spans just under one third of a kilometre from pier to pier. There are five huge gas plants in the Burstall area with the oldest being the TransCanada Compressor Station 2 built in 1957.
Sandy Point Park on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River is 20 minutes west of town. Facilities include BBQ's, picnic tables, playground, camp kitchen and camp sites. Hiking trails and great fishing along the river provide relaxing diversions for everyone.
Take a trip back in time by visiting The Great Sandhills Museum in Sceptre. It houses a boarding house, livery stable, hospital, school, church and many more interesting rooms. Then take a trip just south to the Great Sandhills - huge dunes of pure sand peaking into the horizon.
| | Other Info | Burstall has one school serving Kindergarten to Grade 12. The small classroom size means a lot of individual attention for the students. There is also a varied course selection at the highschool level including electives such as Photography, Psychology, Computer Science and Information Processing.
Burstall has a volunteer Fire Department and First Responders Department. The police protection is currently provided through the Leader Detachment with regular visits to Burstall.
Burstall has a branch of the Chinook Regional Library that is open 3 days per week.
|
|
|
|