High gas prices fuel Alberta town's revival

A town in southern Alberta says the rising price of gas is helping to bring the community back to life.

People in Vulcan used to drive about 120 kilometres north into Calgary, or about 90 kilometres south to Lethbridge, for shopping and supplies.

"I think everybody feared — when they saw how many businesses were closing and how dead Centre Street was becoming — the fear to them was we were going to become a ghost town and everybody would have to move," said Trish Standing, manager of the Stedmans V&S general store.

But as gas gets more expensive, more and more people are staying closer to home to do their business.

Janice Jackson, who owns a flower shop in Vulcan, says she has been shopping a lot more in town, and has noticed fewer empty stores on the town's main street than a few months ago.

Grocery store owner Scott Mitchell has noticed a change, saying "I think we have a little more life in us now."

The town, which has a population of about 2,000, depends largely on agriculture.

Vulcan has tried to drum up tourism by capitalizing on the name it shares with the extraterrestrial species from Star Trek. It has mounted a replica based on the starship Enterprise on a pedestal, and hosts an annual convention that attracts fans of the science-fiction franchise from around the world.

But Standing said the high gas prices have boosted the town's year-round sustainability: "I think it definitely has helped us to keep everything going."

Outside the store, Jackson contemplated how good things can come out of the bad. "I'm watching to see what's happening with all of this. It's kind of exciting in a way," she said.