Recreation:

Market Square

Downtown is the host of Market Square, a weekly fresh farmer’s market event held each Saturday in spring, summer and early fall in the downtown core. With live music, local vendors, fresh locally prepared foods, and a weekly theme, it’s a great way to get out and meet your neighbours, no matter what part of the city you reside in. 

The Lyric Theatre

Saskatchewan’s oldest operating theatre, the Lyric Theatre was built in 1912, and today operates as a performing arts theatre that hosts live music, theatre and other events, in the downtown core.

Area Parks:

·       ACT Park – located on 4^th Avenue NE and Ashford Street, this multi-purpose park is connected to the Chinook Parkway and offers a full wheelchair accessible playground experience, an outdoor rink and heated shelter, washroom facilities, basketball courts, and a state-of-the-art splash pad.

·       Kiwanis Park – located adjacent to ACT Park on the corner of Central Avenue N and Grey Street is a green space with tended gardens, picnic and seating areas, and a path that connects to the Chinook Parkway system.

·       Memorial Park – located near to downtown on 1^st Avenue NE and Herbert Street this large green space with a cenotaph and war memorial at its centre is a respite for downtown workers to enjoy their lunch, a place for families to walk, and the site of multiple special events year-round including a Christmas lights display in December.

·       Westside Park – located between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenue NW on Herbert Street West this laidback space is home to a playground, outdoor rink, and lighted tennis courts that also host pickleball, picnic areas and a washroom.

·       Westend Park – located at Herbert Street W and 6^th Ave NW this playground hosts a picnic shelter and splash pad.

·       Rotary Park – located on Cheadle St. E this playground offers a picnic shelter, and splash pad.

·       Central School Playground

·       Old St. Patrick’s School new play structure.

Additional Recreation Facilities:

·       Swift Current Aquatic Centre – 7 min drive.

·       Swift Current’s Innovation Credit Union iPlex, home to the Swift Current Broncos WHL Hockey team, and other recreation activities and events – 7 min drive.

·       The Swift Current Dog Park and additional baseball diamonds – 8 min drive.

·       Mitchell Field, home to the Swift Current 57’s Baseball team, as well as other diamonds for Little League Baseball – 7 min drive.

·       The Elmwood Golf Club is an 8 minute drive, while the Chinook Golf Course is a 7 min drive. Both offer 18 holes, a restaurant and lounge, pro-shop, putting and driving ranges as well as golf cart and club rentals.

·       Art Gallery of Swift Current and the Swift Current Branch Library – a 3 min drive away, offering both art and interpretive as well as literary education services, the Art Gallery of Swift Current serves as a venue for visual arts, literature, film, music and dance, while the adjacent library, located in the same building, offers pre-school programs, craft clubs, and games nights, literary programs, author readings and more.

·       Lt. Colonel Clifton Centre – a 3 min drive away, this former armory for the Dept. of National Defence, contains a gymnasium, a lounge and a rifle range. It is used by local clubs to offer programming, and can be rented year-round with an accommodation limit of up to 100 people.

 Schools:

Nearby schools include those of both the Chinook School Division (Public) and Holy Trinity School Division (Separate). Bus service is available to service both divisions for all grades.

Elementary/Middle Schools:

Central Elementary School (Grades: Pre K – 8) - 2 min drive or walkable. Swift Current’s oldest operational school, the school was built in 1914, the same year the City was incorporated.

O.M. Irwin School (Grades Pre-K-8) – 6 min drive.

Ecole Centennial (Pre-K – 8) / All Saints Catholic School (Grades: Pre K-8) (Note: This is a French Immersion/English public school and Catholic school built as a joint project with shared spaces) – 9 min drive.

Fairview School: (Grades K-8) – 6 min drive.

 High School:

Swift Current Comprehensive High School (Grades 9-12) – (Note: For those wishing for a Catholic education, courses can be taken at SCCHS to fit curriculum requirements) – 7 min drive.

Shopping:

Located between Swift Current’s Historic Downtown and the Wheatland Mall, this area also includes retail outlets, medical clinics and restaurants off of George Street and Central including Shopper’s Drug Mart, Original Joe’s and the local ice cream shop, Dairy King.

·       Swift Current’s Historic Downtown: a mere 4 min drive, and walking distance from this neighbourhood, Swift Current’s historic downtown region offers a host of independently owned businesses, including health food stores, flower store, toy store, wedding store, fashion store, furniture stores, banks, restaurants, specialty coffee, and a Pharmasave outlet that is western Canada’s largest. The downtown is also host to the Lyric Theatre, a historic music and theatre venue, as well as Market Square a farmer’s market that happens every Saturday in the summer-season.

·       Swift Current Mall: a 7 min drive crossing the Trans Canada Highway from Memorial Drive, this mall and the developments surrounding it offer access to a Safeway and Wholesale Club for groceries. The Living Sky Casino and Sky Centre events venue, Staples, Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, as well as a number of gas stations, restaurants and fast-food outlets including a Starbucks.

·       Wheatland Mall: A 5 min drive away, the Wheatland Mall is home to a Pioneer Co-op grocery, home store, liquor store, and gas mart, as well as a Sasktel outlet, Giant Tiger, Peavey Mart, and Coles Bookstore.

Health Services:

Located close to Swift Current’s downtown area, residents of these central neighbourhoods looking for health services will find the city’s two optometrists, as well as specialist offices from dental, podiatry and obstetrics to chiropractic care, all located in the downtown core.

The Northwest is also only a 7 min drive from the newly developed centralized health care area near the Swift Current Mall which includes:

·       Cypress Regional Hospital – opened in 2008, this modern facility offers 91 acute care beds and in addition to Emergency services is the hub of medical services for SW Saskatchewan with services that include: general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, pediatrics, internal medicine, psychiatry, on-site radiology, pathology services and an intensive care unit.

·       The Meadows – opened in 2016, this award-winning facility hosts 225 long-term care patients with more than 225,000 square feet of space. The facility also hosts its own separate Adult Day program and a large Community Centre for resident activities, family gatherings, and other important events. Its proximity and connection to the hospital, allows for efficient transfers if required.

·       Physician and Dental Clinics: Located across from the hospital this area hosts a number of physician and dental clinics, including the Cypress Medical and Surgical Specialists Clinic, the Southwest Medi-Centre, Swift Hearing Centre, North Side Medical Clinic, Careica Health (formerly Provincial Sleep Group) and Sask Valley Dental.

Walk Score: 65

The most walkable area within the city, the downtown area, has nearly everything you need from a pharmacy with a grocery area and Starbucks, home décor, home improvement, clothing, flower store, and retail health food stores, to restaurants and lounges, and the live music and theatre offerings of the historic Lyric Theatre.

History:

Originally a camp for First Nations, followed by fur traders in the 1800s, the settlement of Swift Current by European settlers began in 1883 after the CPR saw the waters that flowed through the area as the perfect spot to fill-up with the much needed water to create the steam that powered the railroad. While the original residents of Swift Current were associated with either the railway or the large ranching operation of the 76 Ranch, they also helped to bring supplies to the northern most part of the province through wagon trains supplied by the railroad. During the Riel Rebellion of 1885, Swift Current became a major military base due to this well-established route.

As more and more settlers came with the railway to the area, the hamlet soon began to grow with the first real building boom occurring throughout the 1910’s. In 1914 the settlement had grown so large that it had reach the requisite number of citizens (5,000) to become a city. Business was booming and schools were overflowing. Today you can still see many of the buildings from this booming time as you walk through the neighbourhood, including the Court House, the Lyric Theatre, the Booker Block, the Imperial Hotel, and the Fire Hall, as well as many area churches and businesses.