Midnapore, Calgary


Midnapore is a community within the City of Calgary in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is bounded to the north and east by Fish Creek Provincial Park, to the south by Sun Valley Boulevard and to the west by Macleod Trail.

History

Midnapore was once an unincorporated hamlet under the jurisdiction of the Municipal District of Turner Valley No. 32. The Hamlet of Midnapore and adjoining lands were annexed by the City of Calgary on December 30, 1961. Following annexation, Midnapore was established as a neighbourhood in 1977. The Fish-Creek Lacombe C-Train station, which serves part of Calgary's current LRT light rail transit system, recalls Midnapore's former past through its modern interpretation of the former Midnapore rail station.

Amenities

Midnapore has a mall, a community centre which it shares with the adjacent community of Sundance, as well as many fast food restaurants including McDonald's, Wendy's, Tim Hortons, Taco Time and Subway. The community also has its own man-made lake which is used by residents in summer for water sports and in winter for skating and tobogganing. Some houses in Midnapore border onto the lake and towards the northern part of the community, houses border onto Fish Creek Provincial Park. It is not uncommon to see wildlife such as deer, foxes and coyotes wandering around this area of the community. White-tailed Jackrabbits, both red and gray squirrels and a variety of birds such as black-billed magpies, black-capped chickadees, merlin and house finches are found year-round in Midnapore.
Midnapore also has a large business section with a Re/Max office, Tri-Services station, Wingate Inn, Beverly Centre elderly facility, a private elementary and junior high school, Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, and offices for H & R Block, Genstar, and a medical clinic. Midnapore has two elementary schools: Mother Teresa and Midnapore Elementary. Midnapore is also the home to St. Mary's University and Father Lacombe Nursing Home. Midnapore is served by a number of transit bus routes that feed to Somerset-Bridlewood, Shawnessy, and Fish Creek-Lacombe train stations.

Demographics

In the City of Calgary's 2012 municipal census, Midnapore had a population of living in dwellings, a -0.4% increase from its 2011 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2012.
Residents in this community had a median household income of $62,067 in 2000, and there were 10% low income residents living in the neighbourhood. As of 2000, 12.3% of the residents were immigrants. A proportion of 14.3% of the buildings were condominiums or apartments, and 25.8% of the housing was used for renting.

Education

The community is served by Midnapore Elementary and Fish Creek Elementary public schools, as well as by Mother Teresa of Calcutta Elementary, Father James Whelihan Elementary and Junior High, Midsun Junior High School and Trinity Christian School.

Lake

Midnapore has a community lake; the 30-acre lake was dredged in the summer of 1976. A total of 1.5 million cubic yards of earth were moved, some 300,000 cubic yards of which were used to create a 55-foot hill on the adjoining park. The lake contains 165 million gallons of water, to a maximum depth of 31 feet. The park is used for swimming, boating and fishing in the summer and winter sports.
Homeowners in the community are taxed in the form of encumbrances on their property, which goes to maintaining the lake.