EDMONTON – In the heart of Alberta’s oil industry, Fox Creek is experiencing a boom it welcomes. While it welcomes the growth, there’s a problem: the town is almost completely out of land.
Fracking has opened up deep oil reserves near the community, which lies 260 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. Fox Creek is surrounded by dozens of work camps that house thousands of people. New families are moving to the town and new businesses are cropping up quickly.
“Our construction company that builds hotels couldn’t find a room for anybody,” explains Billy Coles, “so it was pretty obvious that Fox Creek was a destination that needed some more rooms.”
Coles is part-owner of the newly opened Comfort Inn. Two other hotels are set to open on the same block, but he’s not concerned there won’t be enough business.
“We have had the best month in the first full month of August than any other of our hotels that we’ve had over the last ten years in August, so we’re pretty happy with that.”
Driving the boom is Fox Creek’s location. The town sits right in the middle of a massive oil play.
“When the drilling phase is done, and the production phase is going full bore, the people doing the production will be living here in town, not living in, say Airdrie, and coming up here two weeks at a time on a drilling rig,” says Town Councillor Bernie Hornby.
The Town thinks it could double in size in the next five years. However, there’s a catch: Fox Creek is nearly out of land.
“We have nine serviced single family residential lots, we have no commercial lots, no industrial lots,” explains Ken Gwozdz, the Town Adminstrator.
The Town needs room to grow, but the solution isn’t cheap.
Fox Creek is surrounded by Crown land and the province wants $3,000 per acre for it.
It’s been a frustratingly slow process that began two years ago. However, patience could pay off.
“With the oil field boom that’s going on here a lot of people are calling it the little Fort Mac,” says Cole.
With files from Tom Vernon, Global News
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