Wascana Lake

Wascana Centre
Downtown Regina, seen from Wascana Lake in Wascana Centre
Type	Public park
Location	Regina, Saskatchewan
Coordinates	50°25′57″N 104°36′24″W / 50.4325°N 104.6068°W / 50.4325; -104.6068Coordinates: 50°25′57″N 104°36′24″W / 50.4325°N 104.6068°W / 50.4325; -104.6068
Area	9.3 square kilometres (2,300 acres)
Created	1962 (formally established)
Operated by	Government of Saskatchewan
Status	Open all year

Wascana Centre (formally established in 1962) is a 9.3 square kilometre (2,300 acre) park built around Wascana Lake in Regina, Saskatchewan. It brings together lands and buildings owned by the City of Regina, University of Regina, and Province of Saskatchewan, and contains government, recreational, cultural, educational and environmental facilities. Originally managed by a body called the Wascana Centre Authority, management of the park was transferred to the provincial government's Provincial Capital Commission in 2017.

It was designed by the Seattle architect Minoru Yamasaki — famous for design of the original World Trade Center in New York City — in tandem with his plans for the Regina Campus of the University of Saskatchewan. His stark modernist plan for the University, which was from the outset a matter of contention as to its suitability for the featureless Regina plain, is evident in the first three buildings of the campus, the laboratory, classroom and library buildings, but the laboratory and library buildings have been substantially altered and the original master plan for the campus has been revamped over time.

The name "Wascana" is derived from the Cree word Oscana meaning "pile of bones" in reference to the plains bison bones scattered around Wascana Creek before the area was populated by non-indigenous people.

Wascana Lake was originally created in 1883 by damming Wascana Creek between Angus and Rae Streets, 1½ blocks west of the present Albert Street dam and bridge, to provide a "stock watering hole" — the rolling stock of the CPR, that is. The Lake was soon turned to recreational use and Reginans took to the lake for sailing and canoeing. Its size was slightly reduced in 1908 when a new dam and bridge were constructed in their present location.

The lake continued for a time to be used as a domestic water supply and for stock watering; it also supplied the new legislative building. A longer term effect resulted, however, when lake water was used to cool machinery in the power plant (now the Powerhouse Museum) that was built in the eastern sector. Heated water returned to the lake, causing that sector to remain ice-free through the winter, and several species of migratory birds made it their year-round habitat. The eastern sector of the lake is now a waterfowl sanctuary.