REGINA - The pumps may have gone dry on "Corner Gas," but the TV show's set is still fuelling a debate in the town that stood in for the fictional community of Dog River, Sask.
Officials in Rouleau, Sask., near Regina, say the exterior set for the show's filling station is falling into disrepair since production on the Gemini-award winning series ended last fall.
That's bad news for the community and "Corner Gas" fans, Rouleau Mayor Allen Kuhlmann said Thursday.
"We have a lot of tourists who are really disgusted with the state that the set is in and the fact that there's no access and it's just kind of been abandoned," said Kuhlmann.
"It looks like heck and it's a terrible legacy to leave the town of Rouleau and the people who were dedicated fans."
The Rouleau set has been a tourist attraction since "Corner Gas" started airing in 2004. People from across Canada and around the world made the trek to Rouleau, population 400, to pose next to the red and yellow pumps.
But Kuhlmann said the pumps are gone, there's now yellow tape around the building, the windows are boarded up and the weeds are overgrown.
"It's a shameful thing for people to come from different parts of Canada to see the state that this thing is in and then they blame the town of Rouleau for it being like that," said Kuhlmann.
Kuhlmann said the town is frustrated, but can't take action because it doesn't own the property. He said the television company Prairie Pants Productions, which leases the land, needs to allow someone to use the property because it's a tourist attraction.
But "Corner Gas" executive producer Virginia Thompson said the set looks the way it always looks when the show is not in production.
"It's boarded up for a really good reason," said Thompson.
"The set was designed as a set. It was not designed as a tourist destination and it's never actually been a tourist destination," said Thompson. "People have always been able to stop by and say 'Hi' to Corner Gas, but they've never actually been able to walk into the building itself."
There's no heat, light, or running water in the building and the floor is not made for people to walk on. She said the pumps and signage can't be left outside because they are key props and there are concerns about theft or vandalism.
There are other "Corner Gas" places for people to see in Rouleau, including the police station (which is really an ice cream parlour), Oscar and Emma's house and the Dog River Bar, said Thompson. Those buildings are privately owned and not part of the filling station set.
Thompson said in the meantime, they will paint the station set to make it attractive to visitors but the key is to preserve it for possible future shoots, which means keeping "it tied up nice and tight."
Plus, she said, a renovation would be costly.
"I think the town would very much like the set to be a tourist destination and you know we'd like the set to be a tourist destination too, but the cost associated with that would really mean a complete rebuild," said Thompson.
"That goes with a very expensive price tag. To do it well and to make it safe, it's not cheap."
The mayor of the town of Gibsons, British Columbia -- home to "The Beachcombers" television series -- knows such work can be pricey, but says it's worth the effort.
Barry Janyk said they had similar issues around a cafe from "The Beachcombers" show called Molly's Reach.
According to the Gibsons Heritage Inventory and Register, thousands of tourists visited the site and were disappointed that it was not a working cafe. The building sat vacant after the long-running series ended in 1991 until the property owner turned it into an actual restaurant.
"It's one of the busiest places in the town now," said Janyk.
"In the case of Gibsons, we'd be lost without having a place like Molly's Reach. It's what put Gibsons on the map. It's why we get thousands of tourists every year. It's probably the most photographed spot in town and the reason why a lot of people come to the Sunshine coast."
Janyk said nearly two decades after the end of "The Beachcombers," thousands of people a year still flock to the site. He said Rouleau could be missing a real opportunity to capitalize on "Corner Gas."
That's what Kuhlmann fears.
"Word of mouth about what the show was about ... was the biggest source of people knowing about it and coming from all over the world," said Kuhlmann. "If word of mouth says it's nothing but a pile of junk who's going to come?"
