Via TV, Eh?, an update on the situation of the Corner Gas set in Rouleau, Saskatchewan. Since the actors packed up and went home, the area that served as the show’s main location (it played the part of the fictional Dog River) has become dilapidated: it’s not being used for film production, the people who own it and rented it to the production company don’t want to sell it, and the place has become both an eyesore and a disappointment to people who come to get a look at the real Corner Gas. The production company is still renting the place, wanting to keep up its option in case other Gas projects (like a film), but nobody seems to have money to fix up the area.
Turning a movie or TV set into a tourist attraction, which is what is apparently being discussed in the article (the question is whether the tourism is worth the money it would cost to restore the set), is a bit pointless — it’s like those tours in Boston that take you past the bar where the Cheers exteriors were filmed — but it can sometimes be good business. If people can go to see backlots and deserts that were dressed up to look like Western towns, why not a small Saskatchewan town that was dressed up to look like… a small Saskatchewan town?