Regent Park

by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

Our newly renovated neighbourhood park is almost complete and finally (mostly)  opened to the public. 

The entire area of land across the street from us and down to the railroad tracks (about four blocks away) was all greenspace when I moved in here twenty three years ago.  The amenities included baseball diamonds, a couple of small playgrounds, a par three golf course,  an indoor ice rink, and an outdoor pool.  There was also an overflow channel, trees galore, and an abundance of wildlife – birds, rabbits, gophers, butterflies, and when the mosquitoes got bad enough there would be a shimmering field of huge dragonflies. 

Over the years townhouses and a seniors residence were built, basketball courts were erected, and the wildlife was pretty much all driven away.  (The mosquitoes stayed. šŸ™„)

Now the Par 3 has been bulldozed along with many trees.  A new accessible playground, off-leash dog parks, and a toboggan hill have been added – along with much artwork and a winding path tieing it all together.

Personally, I preferred the natural state and wildlife but we live in a city. We are relatively fortunate to have access to the amount of greenspace we have in this area.

Sign at park entrance.Ā Ā  I didn’t read it when I was there, so I didn’t walk the outline of the buffalo. Just as well, since there seemed to be a basketball tournament going on at the time.
I love the path.  It is perfect for walking Molly early in the morning.  I hope it is kept cleared in the winter so we have a safe place to walk when the streets and sidewalks are icy and treacherous.
B is for ‘boulder’.Ā  I don’t think there is a single bench in the park but people could sit on the boulders.
I have no idea… But I do think they have this area all seeded for grass as they were watering it this morning.
Hundreds of healthy trees were taken down but a few dead ones were left behind.
Baby buffalo (?) in front of the dog runs (which are not yet open and which do not seem to have water fountains although there are water lines running everywhere).
Accessible playground with splash pad and accessible washrooms.   I don’t know if I saw any other trash cans but there were at least three right in this area. šŸ‘
Close up of playground.
Washrooms,  which were needed to service this playground, the basketball courts right next to it, and the park area.
A dead tree with spindles stuck in it. I hope they add some signs to explain the artwork in this park. I am sure there is an interesting story behind it and it would be really helpful for those of us who are pretty much art illiterate.

There is a lot of open space and more to see in this park but walking Molly AND taking photos is a bit of a struggle.  I will take more photos  when I get the chance.    There are some really amazing boulders and some nice plants that I look forward to sharing.

That’s it for today.  Take care and have a great day! šŸ’žšŸŒž

Advertisement

16 thoughts on “Regent Park”

  2. I have to ask why the healthy trees were chopped up and the dead trees left? I agree with you, Anne, I would also prefer the place to be left in its natural state. The boulders were likely left behind as the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. It looks like it will be a nice place for people of all ages to enjoy. I can’t imagine why they would leave the dead trees, one would think they would be the first to come down. I know progress happens but like you I prefer places to stay as natural as possible. I will be looking forward to seeing more photos of the place as you visit there and post the photos.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Downtown they chopped down the real trees and replaced the with metal sculptures of ‘trees’. I think I read that the boulders were donated from a farmer’s field (left by glaciers no doubt). Some a gorgeous and huge. Would have been fun to watch them being moved into the park.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I see, and why? Why cut down the real thing? I can understand why we have so many metal trees and plants here along some of the roads, because of the desert heat and need for water.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Because our mayor and councillor want to be seen as cool and forward thinking or something. There is a small city forty-five minutes from here (Moose Jaw) that is so nice. They have always stayed true to their history – as has my parent’s small home town. Regina, not so much.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. My compliments to Moosejaw! I would love to see that city too. Destroying live trees and replacing them with faux trees is not forward-thinking! Bummer.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Moose Jaw is a small city but tons of character, brick buildings, a good western heritage museum, and the tunnels of moose jaw from prohibition days, a nice spa. It is also half way between Regina and Gravelbourg (where my parents were from). Gravelbourg is also a very unique town, built on its heritage.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. It is a pretty impressive playground. I’m pretty sure it is the nicest fully accessible playground in the city so this seems like a strange neighbourhood for it but I assume they use demographics to choose designs. I never think of male dogs. Our yard has so many planters that we always get female pups. You are probably right!

    Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s