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{{Short description|Government buildings in Saskatchewan, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox Historic building
|name = Saskatchewan Legislative Building
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|caption = Saskatchewan Legislative Building and grounds
|map_type =
|coordinates = {{
|location_town = [[Regina, Saskatchewan]]
|location_country =
|architect = [[Edward Maxwell|Edward]] and [[William Sutherland Maxwell]]
|client = [[Government of Saskatchewan]]
|owner = [[Government of Saskatchewan]]
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| highest_end = 1927
| highest_region = [[Regina, Saskatchewan]]
|cost = [[Canadian dollar|$]]1.75 million<br/>(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|CA|1750000|1912}}}} in {{Inflation-year|CA}} dollars{{inflation-fn|CA}})
|structural_system =
|style = [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]]
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==History==
[[File:Legislative Building under construction.jpg
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building was built between 1908 and 1912 in the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux Arts]] style to a design by [[Edward Maxwell|Edward]] and [[William Sutherland Maxwell]] of [[Montreal]]. The Maxwells also supervised construction of the building by the Montreal company P. Lyall & Sons, who later built the Centre Block of the federal Parliament Building in [[Ottawa]] after the 1866 Parliament Building was destroyed by fire in 1916. Piles began to be drilled for the foundations during the autumn of 1908 and in 1909 the [[Governor General of Canada]], [[Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey|the Earl Grey]], laid the cornerstone. In 1912, [[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught]], by then the serving governor general, inaugurated the building.<ref>{{Citation| last=Jackson| first=Michael D.| contribution=Royal Visits| year=1990| title=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan| editor-last=Cottrell| editor-first=Michael| place=Regina| publisher=Canadian Plains Research Centre| url=http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/royal_visits.html|
[[Image:B-779 Day out at Wascana Park c. 1910.jpg|thumb
The design contemplates expansion of the building by the addition of wings extending south from the east and west ends and coming together to form a courtyard. The plans originally called for the exterior of the building to be red brick but after construction had begun and red bricks were already on the site, Premier [[Thomas Walter Scott|Walter Scott]] decided that Manitoba Tyndall stone would give the building greater grandeur and the plans were adjusted with the substitution increasing the building cost by $50,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/columnists/history-matters-driving-force-behind-legislative-building-missed-opening |title=History Matters: Driving force behind Legislative Building missed opening |last=Waiser |first=Bill |work=[[The StarPhoenix]] |date=2016-07-19 |
{{clear|left}}▼
In 1965, [[Clifford Wiens]] started a major project of renovation and restoration which took some fourteen years to complete.<ref name="URL">{{cite web |title=Clifford Wiens |url=https://www.uregina.ca/library/services/archives/collections/art-architecture/wiens.html |website=University of Regina Library |publisher=[[University of Regina]] |access-date=14 January 2020}}</ref> Leslie Jen, associate editor at ''Canadian Architect'', called it a "masterful" renovation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jen |first1=Leslie |title=Books |journal=Canadian Architect |date=November 1, 2013 |url=https://www.canadianarchitect.com/books-19/ |access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref>
==Characteristics==
[[File:Saskatchewan-Legislature-Chamber.jpg|thumb
Diverging from parliamentary tradition, the carpet in the legislative chamber was red until 2012. Traditionally, red carpet is used for houses of unelected members, such as the [[Senate of Canada]], and houses of elected members are given blue or green carpet. Walter Scott preferred red carpet, and for a century the Saskatchewan Legislative Building stood as one of only two in Canada to feature red carpet in its legislative chamber (British Columbia's being the other). The red carpet was replaced by green carpet in the summer of 2012.<ref>{{cite news
|url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2012/10/10/sk-legislative-assembly-carpet-colour.html
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|publisher = [[CBC News]]
|date = October 10, 2012
|
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Saskatchewan Legislative Rotunda, ca. 1925.jpg|thumb|right|Legislative rotunda, ca. 1925. The overhead mural entitled “Before the White Man Came”, painted by Department of Public Works employee John Leman, was not painted until 1933, so it did not exist when this photograph was taken.]] -->
Walter Scott anticipated that the building might "for a century yet be credible enough to form the main building on the Capital grounds",<ref>{{cite book |last=Barnhart |first=Gordon L. |author-link=Gordon Barnhart |title=Building for the Future: A Photo Journal of Saskatchewan's Legislative Building |location=[[Regina, Saskatchewan]] |publisher=Canadian Plains Research Centre |year=2002 |isbn=0-88977-145-6}}</ref> the general assumption of the time being that Saskatchewan's population would grow to several million. That century has long since elapsed; the provincial legislative building remains the main building on the "Capital grounds", but indeed, continues to be the most imposing structure in a city smaller than its founders envisioned.
Such planning is evident in the legislative chamber itself, designed to accommodate 125 members. The assembly has never expanded beyond 66 MLAs (and currently has 61). As a result, even after those elections which yielded massive majorities (such as those held in [[1982 Saskatchewan general election|1982]], [[1991 Saskatchewan general election|1991]], and [[2011 Saskatchewan general election|2011]]) there has been plenty of space to seat all government members to the speaker's right. The one exception was in 2020 and 2021 to satisfy [[physical distancing]] requirements during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Desks were spaced in such a manner that a relatively equal number needed to be placed on each side of the Speaker, meaning some government backbenchers sat on the Speaker's left.
The Institute for stained glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at Saskatchewan Legislature.<ref>Stained glass at Saskatchewan Legislature http://stainedglasscanada.ca/site.php?site=174</ref>
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===Statues at Legislature===
[[File:Elizabeth II Sask.jpg|right|thumb|130px|Statue of Queen Elizabeth II north of the building]]
There is an equestrian statue of Queen [[Elizabeth II]] unveiled in 2005 at the renamed Queen Elizabeth II Gardens fronting the legislative building.<ref>{{cite news|title=Royals reign in rainy Regina|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/royals-reign-in-rainy-regina-1.536312|accessdate=24 June 2016|work=CBC News|date=May 18, 2005}}</ref> It was designed by Susan Velder.<ref>{{cite web |title=QUEEN'S STATUE MAQUETTES PRESENTED TO DONORS {{!}} News and Media |url=https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2004/february/04/queens-statue-maquettes-presented-to-donors |website=Government of Saskatchewan |language=en}}</ref> The statue depicts the Queen atop [[Burmese (horse)|Burmese]], her favourite horse and a gift from the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] in 1969. The horse was originally bred in Saskatchewan.▼
====Current statues====
The [[Louis Riel Memorial (Nugent)|Louis Riel Memorial]] made by [[John Cullen Nugent]] unveiled in 1968 and stood on the grounds of the legislature until 1991, when it was removed at the insistence of the Saskatchewan Métis Society and others. Some found the work demoralizing for depicting [[Louis Riel]] in a "disrespectful" manner: "gaunt" and semi-nude, in the moment of ultimate Métis humiliation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beatty |first1=Greg |title=Kim Morgan: Antsee. Espace Sculpture |journal=Erudit |date=Winter 2003-2004 |issue=66 |page=42 |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/espace/2003-n66-espace1049207/9041ac.pdf |accessdate=10 January 2020 |issn=0821-9222}}</ref> Others argued that the sculpture was Euro-Canadian [[cultural appropriation|appropriation]].<ref name="Pitsula">{{cite journal |last1=Pitsula |first1=James M. |title=The Thatcher Government in Saskatchewan and the revival of Métis nationalism, 1964-71 |journal=Great Plains Quarterly |date=Summer-Fall 1997 |issue=17 |pages=213-235 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2952&context=greatplainsquarterly |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Thraves |editor1-first=Bernard D., [and three others] |title=Saskatchewan: Geographic Perspectives |date=2007 |publisher=[[University of Regina]] Canadian Plains Research Center |location=[Regina, Saskatchewan] |isbn=9780889771895 |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=J18N8Py8nqgC&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=john+nugent+louis+riel+statue+high&source=bl&ots=YMkQ1z2Y6p&sig=ACfU3U0vawBW8f6MFy93-TVKsQ9muTTFJA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjY87OW0_nmAhUDs54KHfM-Cac4ChDoATAAegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=john%20nugent%20louis%20riel%20statue%20high&f=false |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref>▼
▲
On the eastern side of the building there is a fountain, one of two brought from London's [[Trafalgar Square]], the other having been taken to [[Ottawa]] (and now located at [[Confederation Park]]). The [[Boddam, Aberdeenshire#Peterhead granite|Peterhead granite]] fountain was designed by McDonald and Leslie and were relocated before the mid
====Removed statue====
▲The
[[File:Sask Legislative Bldg main floor plan.png|thumb|Floor plan]]
==References==
{{
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Barnhart
* {{cite thesis |last1=Bodnar |first1=Diana Lynn |title=The Prairie Legislative Buildings of Canada |date=1979 |publisher=University of British Columbia |oclc=15888170 |type=MA}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Goodspeed |first1=Rhona |title=Saskatchewan Legislature Building and Grounds |journal=Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada |date=2007 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=61–88 |url=https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/70741/vol32_1_61_88.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |issn=1486-0872}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.legassembly.sk.ca/about/saskatchewans-legislative-building Legislative Building of Saskatchewan]
* [http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/regina/south/legislative.html Drawings of unsuccessful designs in the 1907 competition for the commission to plan the Legislative Building]
* [http://www.historicplaces.ca/rep-reg/affichage-display_e.aspx?Id=3764
▲{{coord|50.432426|-104.615099|region:CA_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Saskatchewan parks}}▼
{{NHSC}}▼
{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before=
| title=[[List of tallest buildings in Regina, Saskatchewan|Tallest Building in Regina]]
| years=1912-1927<br /><small>53 m</small>
| after=[[Hotel Saskatchewan]]
}}
{{s-end}}
▲{{Saskatchewan parks}}
▲{{NHSC}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1912]]
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[[Category:Tourist attractions in Regina, Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:1912 establishments in Saskatchewan]]
[[Category:Historic buildings and structures in Saskatchewan]]
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