Regina History & Facts
n elaborate costumes performing at Henry Baker Hall during National Aboriginal Day in 2014. Both
dancers are blurred as they have been captured while dancing was in
progress. The costumes feature feathers and ribbons with a colour palette of reds, yellows, blue,
orange and white. Both dancers wear eagle feathers as part of their headdress. Behind the dancers,
visitors and members of the media watch while the drum circle accompanies the dancers. Some of the
observers are also dressed in dancing costumes and awaiting their
turn to perform. One of the City of Regina’s first steps in this journey was to provide heritage
designation to the Regina Indian Industrial School cemetery site, which took effect in September
2016. A photograph of Boggy Creek wellspring in about 1911-1912. A wooden platform with metal
machinery stands to the back and rises above a metal pipe. The pipe is spurting water. A man’s legs
are visible on the platform above the pipe. A small boy stands to the left of the spurting pipe out
of the range of water. In 1903, Regina became a city, partly because Regina had a pressing need for
things like running water, A photograph of a well spring, taken in 1911-1912. sidewalks, The image
is titled “Regina Flood, April 13th 1916”. Several wooden buildings stand on a flat, featureless
plain surrounded by water. A wooden plank sidewalk runs above the water in the foreground. paved
roads, A photograph of four men in their best clothing pose with shovels and a wheelbarrow. The man
to the far right stands with a wheelbarrow. The second man stands in a stooped posture, posing with
a pickaxe. A third man stands holding a broom and smoking a cigar. The fourth man stands posing,
holding a shovel. In the background is a car and several houses. sewers, A photograph of a large
trench reinforced with metal rebar is surrounded by a metal track apparatus that is being used to
transport large, wooden sewer pipes into place within the trench. In the background stands the
steam-powered boring machine used to dig the trench. Two men in suits stand in the background in
front of the machine and at the edge of the trench. To the right of the image, three men work near
sections of sewer pipe. One section of pipe has been suspended from a metal chain and is being
pulled into place in the trench. Wooden houses are in the far background of the image. and
electricity. A photograph of Turbine Hall of the City of Regina Powerhouse, which is now the
Saskatchewan Science Centre at 2903 Powerhouse Drive. Four large turbines stand in a massive
multi-storey building. The building has high ceilings with large, arched windows and a skylight.
The walls are brick. A man stands next to the front turbine on a wooden platform. Wires and chains
extend up the walls to the ceiling line. Jacob W. Smith was our mayor then. We’ve had 38 different
mayors in total. Here are some mayoral highlights: A photograph of Mayor Jacob W. Smith in 1903. It
is a head shot of a white-haired man with a moustache and goatee. He wears a jacket and tie with a
pin in it. He has small frameless round wire glasses on. Coolest hair: Walter D. Cowan, who hosted
public debates in his dental office. A photograph of Mayor W.D. Cowan, DDS. Cowan’s image is framed
by a hand-drawn oval frame made of ornate paisley shapes with a placard bearing his name and title
below. The image is a head shot of a man with a white pompadour hairstyle and small moustache,
wearing a suit and tie. Youngest mayor: Francis N. Darke, buried in Regina’s only above-ground
mausoleum. A photograph of town council in 1896. Four men stand in the back row while three men sit
on leather chairs in front. Third from the left in the back is Mayor Francis N. Darke. He has dark
hair, which is neatly styled. He has a handlebar moustache and he wears a white dress shirt, white
bow tie and dark suit. Only female mayor to date: Doreen Hamilton, who became mayor thanks to acoin toss when her predecessor, Larry Schneider, resigned to run for
federal election. A photograph of Mayor Doreen Hamilton in 1988. Hamilton faces to the right of the
image in ¾ profile. She stands at a podium and speaks into a microphone. She is wearing a light
jacket, white shirt and dark scarf or tie, loosely fastened. Hamilton has short, dark hair and a
large oval earring. Longest-serving mayor: Henry Baker, who was simultaneously a provincial member
of the legislative assembly. A photograph of ten men pose on the back of a caboose that has just
driven through a paper banner held by two men next to the train tracks. The banner reads “Official
Opening Regina Rail Relocation” but is now split in half by the train caboose. Mayor Henry Baker
stands third to the left on the caboose. He is wearing a dark trilby hat and a beige coat with a
shirt and tie. All men are dressed for cold weather, including heavy coats, hats and gloves, though
there is no snow on the ground. And the only mayor to fight against Britain in a war: Cornelius
Rink, who fought for the Dutch in the Boer War. A photograph of Mayor Cornelius Rink in 1934. It is
a head shot with Rink looking to the right of the frame. He has thinning, white hair, is
clean-shaven and wears a dark jacket, white shirt and bowtie. The image has a frame with a
hand-drawn banner reading “C.Rink Mayor”. In 1905, Saskatchewan became a province, and in 1906,
Regina became its capital. Back then, Saskatchewan was the fastest-growing province. A photograph
of decorated arches made of wheat for Inauguration Day, 1905. The image is from a postcard. To the
left is a photograph of decorated arches with bunting and a banner above reading “North West
Forever”. Flags top the archway. A small boy is standing in the centre of the arch. A similar arch
appears in the far background, visible through the closer arch. Stores and buildings are to the far
left of the arch, decorated with bunting, banners and flags. To the right of the arch is the
Canadian Pacific Railway gardens. The caption below the image says “South Railway Street, Regina,
Sask., Inauguration Day”. A postmark reading “Brandon, Man. Can. 1907 Sept. 19 2:10 pm” is stamped
on the picture. To the right of the picture in the space for a message, it reads: “Dear Nellie, I
was so glad to hear from you. I have never heard from Annie since we left do ask her wo write to
me. I am liking this country fairly well but would rather have the dear old country. Write to me
soon. I wish I was near you. Love to Both. Bab.” We still had no trees, though. Once we became the
capital, the residents worked on making Regina look less like a flat moonscape. A photograph of the
bare, unlandscaped space that would be developed into Victoria Park in about 1905. The photograph
is looking south over houses towards Wascana Lake. No Legislative Building has been constructed
yet. On the unlandscaped Victoria Park there are unpaved trails showing where residents have walked
through the park. A fenced area marks off a surface for playing sports. To the far left of the
image is the edge of a gazebo. There are no trees, flowers or bushes planted. They planted trees, A
photograph of tree planting in 1960. Trees have no leaves on them and are about waist-high on the
men in the picture. Three men with shovels in background are planting trees, while two men examine
a tree in the right foreground. There is no snow on the ground. All men are wearing coats. built a
Legislative Building, Composite image of two photographs. The photograph to the left shows the
Legislative Building under construction. There are multiple wooden platforms and pathways
constructed to aid in the construction of masonry. In the background are two crane or winch-like
machines. The photograph to the right shows the nearly completed Legislative Building in about
1912. The building’s outer walls have been completed and the scaffolding has been removed. The Dome
has been clad in copper, but some of the windows are missing in the building. The building stands
on flat, featureless prairie with no road leading to it. landscaped parks, A black and white
photograph of the hand-coloured “Design for Victoria Park” by Frederick Todd, 1907. The image shows
a square outer layout of trees flanking the perimeter, with a circular spoke design featuring an
empty space at the centre of the park left intentionally open for a prominent feature. In the early
days of the park, the centre location was filled with a fountain, while the Cenotaph is the current
prominent central feature within the park. and built a City Hall. By 1912, Regina looked pretty
impressive. A photograph of Regina’s second City Hall in 1908. An ornate four-storey, brick,
gingerbread building with a central cupola and a clock tower on the left of the image. The grand
entrance to the front of the building is to the left of the image. City Hall is surrounded by
small, wooden and larger brick buildings in the image. On June 30, 1912, Regina became the site of
Canada’s deadliest tornado, when twin funnel clouds tore down two of the most populous streets in
the city. A photograph of the Knox Presbyterian Church after the 1912 cyclone. The image reads “
Presbyterian Church Wrecked by Cyclone Regina, Sask”. The four-storey Knox Presbyterian Church, a
large, brick building, has had its central tower destroyed by the cyclone. The building has no roof
and a large portion of the brickwork in the centre and left of the image has been destroyed. Piles
of rubble can be seen through the gothic arches that had held stained glass windows but are now
empty. A row of young trees, heavily bent by the high winds, stand nearly leafless in the
foreground in front of the church. Debris covers the paved sidewalks and street. Twenty-eight
people were killed, hundreds injured and 2500 people were left homeless. A photograph of houses
damaged by the 1912 cyclone. The image reads “Regina Cyclone June 30/12”. To the right of the frame
sits a mostly intact brick house. Part of its roof has collapsed and it has no shingles, but many
of the house’s windows are still undamaged. To the left of the frame sits a similar stone house.
The second floor and roof is completely gone, with only some of the walls leaning precariously and
outlining where the rooms would have been. Two of the three downstairs windows remain intact,
though there are some stones missing from the house’s façade. Debris covers the lawns in front of
both houses. Within a year, most of the city was rebuilt, but it took about 40 years to pay off the
debt. A photograph of three men with a team of horses and wagon pick up debris after the 1912
cyclone. The image reads “Regina Cyclone June 30th”. The intact façade of the Massey Harris
building is seen in the background surrounded by debris. No windows remain in the brick building.
Another man in the background leads a second horse. When residents returned from World War 1,
Regina became a pioneer in the field of aviation. A photograph of a woman sitting in the cockpit of
the first registered airplane in Canada, in about 1917. The building in the background reads “
Aerial Service Co.” The airplane is a biplane style. The woman has short dark hair in a curly
style. She is smiling at the camera person. It was the home to Canada’s first airfield. A
photograph of Aerial Service Co. Ltd., Canada’s first airport, with four airplanes lined up. Six
unidentified men are leaning against the first airplane in line. All airplanes are biplane style.
An automobile with no roof sits to the far right in front of the line of airplanes. The first
commercial pilot, Roland J. Groome, and the first airplane mechanic, Bob McCombie. One advantage of
being flat, featureless and treeless turned out to be that you can build a nice, long runway for
airplanes. A close-up photograph of Roland J. Groome’s commercial pilot’s license, the first such
document ever issued in Canada. Groome’s picture is on the bottom right of the image. He wears
goggles on top of a pilot’s hat with long, ear-protecting flaps. He is young and clean-shaven. In
World War II, Regina would be the home of RCAF flight schools for Allied pilots, and Regina’s
runway was so long that it’s one of the few locations in Canada where the Concorde was able to
land. A photograph of Regina International Airport in about 1970. An air-traffic control tower in
the centre background of the image with a terminal building extending to the left and right of the
image. The word “REGINA” is on the side of the terminal building in the background. In the
foreground is a Viscount airplane, call number CF-STS 616. The airplane has two propellers. Baggage
handlers with carts are visible at the rear of the airplane. In the 1930s, Regina suffered the
consequences of the Great Depression, which collapsed the economy and led to massive unemployment.
Regina hosted two make-work projects, the deepening of Wascana Lake, A photograph of an empty
Wascana Creekbed before the 1931 deepening. To the right of the picture is the Legislative Building’
s east side. The image looks north towards the city centre. Hotel Saskatchewan is visible in the
top middle of the image. Parts of the creek bed have snow or sediment remaining. The Image has a
blurred white spot, likely caused by poor development on the original film at the bottom centre of
the image. and the construction of the Albert Memorial Bridge. A photograph looking southeast from
the Albert Memorial Bridge towards the Legislative Buildings in about 1935. The Legislative
Buildings and bridge are in the background, while in the foreground the Eastview/Parliament
streetcar is stopped to take on passengers. One man walks near the end of the bridge balustrades
towards the streetcar, while a man and a woman are closer to the streetcar in the centre of the
frame. There are no leaves on the trees and all the people are dressed in heavy coats, though there
is no snow visible. But the number of unemployed men far outstripped employment opportunities, and
by 1935, unemployed men in British Columbia were traveling towards Ottawa, where they intended to
demand help. A photograph of the On To Ottawa Trekkers Camp near Craven, 1935. Multiple tents are
set up near two wooden shacks in a field. Hills near Craven are visible in the background.
Vegetation is green and lush. A fence is in the foreground in front of the tents. The federal
government ordered the “On to Ottawa Trek”, as it became known, to be halted in Regina because of
its RCMP presence. A photograph of men riding on the top of boxcars and climbing up the sides of
boxcars during the On to Ottawa Trek in 1935 Arrest warrants were issued, and when police moved in
to shut down the peaceful rally, the Regina Riot broke out. A photograph of the riot in Market Square on July 1, 1935. In the centre foreground is a paving
machine and several carts. In the middle ground is a truck and a car. In the background is a large
building and a large row of buildings. Many men are standing about watching. The air is filled with
smoke from fires. People are running and fleeing. In the right centre, two men in blurred motion
throw items at one another. In the end, there were two dead, including one police officer. Hundreds
were injured and tens of thousands of dollars in property damage was done to downtown Regina. It
wasn’t until World War II started that the Great Depression lost its hold over the world. A
photograph of the rescue of Detective Millar during the riot. In the centre background, a helmeted
policeman pulls a prone man, likely plainclothes policeman Detective Millar, from where he had
fallen after being struck a fatal blow. Several men armed with sticks are running towards the men.
Other men and women throw rocks at the police officers. Another prone man is being attended to by a
different man at the far left centre of the image. After the end of World War II, Regina started to
prosper again. The oil industry flourished, A photograph of the Co-op Refinery’s buildings and
equipment is silhouetted against a red sunset in the 1970s. The refinery is black with white dots
from the lights against a blood-red sunset. Saskatchewan celebrated its Jubilee in 1955, A
photograph of a city trolley bus reading “Welcome to Regina 50 Years of Progress” for Saskatchewan’s
Golden Jubilee, 1955. The bus is painted with “1905 1955” on front, and the former coat of arms
for the city is painted on the trolley bus. and there was a postwar construction boom. A photograph
of a large crane moving cement up to the top tier of construction of the current City Hall. In the
foreground is a metal fence and scaffolding. The building is being constructed using concrete forms
on a floor-by-floor basis. It appears to be at the third floor of construction of the 17-storey
building. In 1955, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum got a permanent home after having been located in
a variety of spots since the first artifact donation in 1906. A photograph looking southeast
towards the College Avenue entrance of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on the corner of College
Avenue and Albert Street. Fresco on the side of the building is visible because trees and bushes
near the building are very short at this time. Two large trees in foreground. In 1970, Regina
completed construction on the Centre of the Arts, now known as the Conexus Arts Centre. It gained
the nickname “the largest monkey bars in the world” due to construction delays. A composite image
of two photographs. Left photograph shows an aerial view of the University of Regina and Centre of
the Arts Buildings under construction in the 1960s, with Wascana Lake in distance. The right
photograph shows the Centre of the Arts after completion, looking over Wascana Lake toward the
southeast, with bushes in the foreground. In 1990, the MacKenzie Art Gallery moved into its current
home in the T.C. Douglas Building. Home to over 3,500 works of art, the MacKenzie can trace its
origins back to 1936, when Norman MacKenzie bequeathed a portion of his collection and estate to
the University of Saskatchewan for use at Regina College. A photograph of the view of the Albert
Street plaza and entrance of the T.C. Douglas Building in winter 1981. Snow is on the ground and
most of the trees are barren. Most people don’t realize it, but Regina is a cultural powerhouse.
The Regina Symphony Orchestra is Canada’s oldest. A photograph of the Regina Symphony Orchestra in
the 1950s on stage at Darke Hall. The conductor stands in the centre, facing the camera person,
while orchestra members sit in a semi-circle on the stage. The front three rows are playing
violins. The fourth row is playing percussion and flutes. The backmost row against the stage back
is playing tuba, trombone, trumpet, bassoon and bass violin. ...
Access to Information
ty. To pay your application or processing fee, use the Pay ATIR Fee feature by clicking on the
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of Regina Access to Information Policy
Recycling FAQ
te between the types of resin found in plastics. The presence of a symbol doesn’t guarantee an item
is recyclable because it depends on if there is a market for it.
Sometimes I’m not sure if an item is recyclable. What’s wrong with putting it in the Blue Cart and
letting the recycling facility figure it out? This behaviour is called ‘wishcycling’. Although it
stems from the best intentions, the problem with wishcycling is that wishcycled items are
considered contamination. The higher the contamination the greater the cost. The City has to meet a
contamination threshold or the City will have to pay Service Level Failure Credits that could
impact the waste user fee. By recycling correctly, we can help keep the cost of the program low.
Check out the Waste Wizard tool to find out what items are accepted in the Blue Cart. Some items
that are recyclable in other programs can’t go into the Blue Cart. Why not? The Curbside Recycling
Collection program was designed to handle household paper and packaging. Other programs exist for
many other recyclables including electronics, batteries, light bulbs, and scrap metal. Check with
the Waste Wizard tool to learn about disposal options for items. Why can’t I leave extra
recyclables beside my Blue Cart for collection? Recyclables must be placed inside your Blue Cart
with the lid closed to keep the items dry. Recyclables tend to be light and may be blown by the
wind and create litter. If you have extra recycling, hold on to it until the next collection day,
or bring the items to a Big Blue Bin Depot, or try flattening any boxes to make space in your Blue
Cart. Why can’t plastic bags go in the Blue Cart? Plastic bags are not accepted in the blue cart
because the cart collects items all together that then have to be sorted at the facility. ...
