January 14 - Victoria Park today

You will see that I am submitting three posts in one day; it is because I wasn't able to get to a computer until this moment to download the pictures in my camera. (I'm going to see about changing the settings on my smart phone so I can upload and blog on the run.)
This photo is of Victoria Park from 11th Avenue and Lorne Street.  City Council (why, I will never know) decided to change the free-flowing traffic in the downtown core to create a 'festival place' beside Victoria Park. They promised they would have traffic going down 11th once it was completed. They said it would be done in a year.
Well, after spending millions of dollars, this is what we got. Metal structures that look like the fence of a concentration camp. The lamp poles look like light sabres out of Star Wars. No one goes downtown because the traffic is so screwed. And no one goes to the festival place to hang out. (Do you see anyone in that picture? It was taken at 4 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon when the temperature was -5C [that's warm for Regina in January.])
What a colossal waste of money. I hope people remember that when it comes time to the election. Wasting that much money during tough economic times is a shame.

January 13 - Plains Hotel today

Here is the vacant lot where the Plains Hotel used to sit (I blogged about it earlier this week and around this same time in 2010.) Sorry about all the poles, but I was behind some cars and couldn't make it to the front of the intersection to take the photo.
The empty lot makes the intersection look bare and uninviting. I hope they begin construction soon.

January 12: Honouring Regina College's war dead

When you go in through the main doors of the College Avenue Campus, you see a brass plaque to the left that lists in the center panel the12 Regina College students who died fighting for Canada during the First World War.

The two side panels list all students who fought for Canada during the war, and whether they were injured in battle. There is over 100 names on the side panel.

Considering that Regina College only opened its doors to students in 1911 and Regina only had about 3,000 residents at that time...to have over 100 of your students/alumni fighting in the war would have been a significant number of people.

In today's hectic society, its easy to forget the sacrifices of past generations. This is my way to say thank-you.

January 11-last photo of the Plains Hotel

Although it is just a dirt plot now, I was able to take this photo of the Plains Hotel while driving in my car. I took the photo just before it was torn down last month.
It looks quite run down when compared to the original shot of the Plains Hotel I took on January 10, 2010.
It will be refreshing to see a new building being constructed in Regina on that site.

January 10 - Early morning in downtown Regina

My camera is on the fritz, so I had to use the camera on my cell phone to take this photo this morning as I waited for the bus. As you can see, there is no snow anywhere in the downtown core. No wonder since it was 5.7 C yesterday! Weare supposed to get a centimetre or two of snow this week, but I'm not holding my breath.