Wascana Park

Wascana Lake’s original function was as a reservoir. Regina was not blessed with an adequate nearby water source and the CPR was forced to create a reservoir in 1882 to serve the needs of its rolling stock. Even with the reservoir, water ran out before the first winter was through and the CPR was forced to haul in water at great expense.

The land around the reservoir had been nominally set aside as a park, but it was not until the new provincial government purchased land on the south side of the reservoir to serve as a location for the new Legislative Buildings that the notion of developing the land took shape. Even then, city council had problems with the concept; a large chunk of parkland was sold to the Grand Trunk Railroad in order to construct a railroad hotel. Other land on the north side of the river housed the territorial jail!

Wascana Park and Wascana Lake were on the outskirts of the city when the Legislative Assembly was completed in 1912. There was no road leading to the site of the new buildings, and the land surrounding the new Legislative Assembly was all farmland. Indeed, the east-side of the park (where the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts is now located) was farmland until the 1960s. It took a while for developers to build houses on land near the park, and it took even longer for those locations to become fashionable places to live. (Today, the McCallum Hill-developed subdivisions of The Crescents and Old Lakeview, both located within walking distance of Wascana Park, are among the most desirable addresses in the city of Regina.)

Eventually, the area around Wascana Lake became the urban oasis of parkland we know today as Wascana Park.

		Title: Boat Club Picnic Year: ca. 1900 Retrieval #: CORA-B-777
		Title: Boat Club Picnic Year: ca. 1900 Retrieval #: CORA-A-1560
		Title: E. Side Lorne & West Side Osler [1906 Census] Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906 Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 24
		Title: E. Side Lorne & West Side Osler [1906 Census] Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906 Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 25
		Title: E. Side Lorne & West Side Osler [1906 Census] Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1906 Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 26
		Title: Reservoir Dam Regina Year: ca. 1908 Retrieval #: CORA-RPL-A-422
		Title: Boat Club – Wascana Lake Year: ca. 1909 Retrieval #: CORA-B-573
		Title: Day out at Wascana Park Year: ca. 1910 Retrieval #: CORA-B-779
		Title: Wascana Lake – North Shore Year: 1910 Retrieval #: CORA-RPL-B-405
		Title: Broad Street Bridge Year: 1910 Retrieval #: CORA-RPL-A-173
		Title: Looking northwest from the Legislature Year: 1914 Retrieval #: CORA-A-563
		Title: Wascana Park Year: ca. 1915 Retrieval #: CORA-E-6.176
		Title: Jack McAra and friends at Wascana Park Year: ca. 1915 Retrieval #: CORA-E-6.145
		Title: Men at Wascana Lake Year: ca. 1915 Retrieval #: CORA-E-6.88
		Title: Rachel Humphries and companion at Wascana Park Year: ca. 1915 Retrieval #: CORA-E-6.77
		Title: Albert Street Bridge during the flood Year: 1915 Retrieval #: CORA-A-1536
		Title: Wascana Lake Flood Year: 1915 Retrieval #: CORA-A-1534
		Title: Wascana Lake, Regina, Canada Year: ca. 1919 Retrieval #: CORA-RPL-A-755
		Title: Men and children in beachwear Year: ca. 1925 Retrieval #: CORA-RPL-A-138
		Title: Tourist Auto Camp - Regina Year: ca. 1926 Retrieval #: CORA-RPL-H-3
		Title: Parliament Buildings from Wascana Park Year: ca. 1927 Retrieval #: CORA-RPL-A-756
		Title: Wascana Lake from the air Year: 1931 Retrieval #: CORA-A-535
		Title: Empty Wascana Lake Year: 1931 Retrieval #: CORA-B-793
		Title: Empty Wascana Lake Year: 1931 Retrieval #: CORA-B-792
		Title: Empty Wascana Lake Year: 1931 Retrieval #: CORA-B-791
		Title: Looking across Wascana Lake from Parliament Buildings Year: 1937 Retrieval #: CORA-A-515
		Title: Albert Street bridge and dam Year: 1938 Retrieval #: CORA-A-541
		Title: Opening of Albert Street Memorial Bridge Programme Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1930 Page Number of Scanned Image: Front
		Title: Opening of Albert Street Memorial Bridge Programme Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1930 Page Number of Scanned Image: Middle
		Title: Opening of Albert Street Memorial Bridge Programme Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1930 Page Number of Scanned Image: Back