A new office tower is officially coming to downtown Regina. The groundbreaking was held this morning. Hofmeister and I were in attendance as Premier Brad Wall, Mosaic President and CEO Jim Prokopanko, Harvard Developments CEO Paul Hill and City Councillor Michael Fougere dipped their shovels into a trough of soil to symbolically mark the groundbreaking of the new building, which will house head offices for the global fertilizer giant (assuming the Australians don’t steal it, I guess).
Fougere’s speech centered on the significance of the new building to Regina’s downtown. “The final plan meets the spirit and the intent of the Regina Downtown Plan,” he said. Now, the final plan does not meet many key requirements which Harvard bought its way out of. However the City Administration which, unlike Planning Commission, has a pretty good track record standing against sketchy notions (until they get overruled by politicians anyway), is happy with the tower. And my first take on it is yes, it does look like something that attempts to meet the spirit of the plan.
Dechene will have a lot more to say on this next issue of prairie dog (out next Thursday).
And somewhere, Carle is hating the new building already and talking about moving back to Montreal.
Is this tower good for Regina, or baaaad? Let the debating, screeching and arguing begin.
Photo by Darrol Hofmeister, sharpshooter photography
