This book, by Gordon L. Barnhart, is a photo-journal which follows the construction of the Saskatchewan Legislative and Executive Building, which took place over 100 years ago. Full of historic photos of the ongoing construction, this is a great book for the history aficionado. It was published in 2002 by the University of Regina Press.
Celebrating its 100th birthday on October 11, 2012, this building has admirably served the citizens of Saskatchewan for over 100 years. It has held up well, major renovations not having been carried out until 1997.
The building was built in the Beaux Arts style by P. Lyall & Sons, of Montreal, to a design by Frederick G. Todd of Montreal. Later P. Lyall & Sons also built the Centre Block of the federal Parliament Building in Ottawa after the original Parliament Building, built in 1866, was destroyed by fire in 1916.
The cornerstone for this majestic building was laid by the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency Earl Grey on October 4th 1909. It is placed for all who enter The Legislature to see between the left two doors of the main entrance.
The legislative building and its grounds were designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2005. It is also a Provincial Heritage Property, not to mention being the largest provincial capitol building in Canada.
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building and Grounds National Historic Site of Canada, on the south shore of Regina’s Lake Wascana, is a monumental structure, designed according to Beaux-Arts principles of symmetry, grandeur and elaborate ornamentation. Three-storeys high, with its long rectangular section crossed at its centre by a large porticoed pavilion, the structure rises in a massive dome atop a colonnaded octagon. The building is a steel construction, sheathed in smooth buff-coloured limestone. It dominates the surrounding landscaped grounds, laid out in drives, paths, formal flower gardens and woods of mature trees. The designation refers to the building and the grounds.
From Parks Canada