Crown in Saskatoon - Landmarks

Landmarks

Several landmarks have particular connections to the Crown. Those situated on the riverfront include the Royal University Hospital on Hospital Drive, the Delta Bessborough hotel on Spadina Crescent East, a Statue of Ramon Hnatyshyn at Spadina Crescent East and 24th Street East, the Prince of Wales Promenade at Spadina Crescent East and Duchess Street, St. John's Cathedral on Spadina Crescent East, and the Queen Elizabeth Power Station on Spadina Crescent. Inside the downtown area are situated the Connaught Block on Third Avenue, the King George building at Second Avenue North and 23rd Street East, and the Patricia Hotel on Second Avenue North, as well as those landmarks which have disappeared, including the Queen's, King Edward and Royal hotels. A number of private apartment buildings around the city also have royal namesakes.

• Royal University Hospital: One of a handful of royal designations in the province, it is situated on the eastern river bank on the university campus. It is the main trauma centre in the province, a seven-story facility housing maternal and child services, neurosurgery and cardiovascular surgery. It delivers a comprehensive health programme in partnership with the university medicine college. The Queen granted its royal designation and bestowed it a Royal Coat of Arms in 1990, forty-five years after it was opened by premier Tommy Douglas. Governor General Roméo LeBlanc toured the hospital on visiting Saskatoon in 1995.
• Delta Bessborough: Governor General the Earl of Bessborough consented to its naming in 1931 and visited it while under construction in 1932. Situated on the western river bank, the Château-style structure was constructed with stone, brick and tiles from the prairies. Its facilities include the private gardens that are the main venue for the Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Fest, while its vice-regal suite is the principal accommodation for vice-regal visitors. Governor General Adrienne Clarkson said on visiting that she believed it was "so much a part of our history, belonging to that chain of great hotels which traced the opening of the west across our country; because of its location on the banks of the Saskatchewan River with such marvellous views, and ... because of its connection with my British predecessor, Lord Bessborough."
• Queen Elizabeth Power Station: Originally named the South Saskatchewan River Generating Station, Saskatoon's natural gas-fired station was recommissioned by the Queen on her visit in 1959. The city's 382-megawatt power generation plant is located on its southwestern outskirts. Production of electricity from waste heat results in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions equal to those of 30,00 cars. Saskatoon's water treatment process begins at the station, from which a base supply of water is pumped to the main treatment plant.
• Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist: A municipal heritage property, its cornerstone was laid by Governor General the Duke of Connaught in 1912. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh worshipped at St. John's in 1951, 1959 and 1987, as did Governor General Viscount Alexander in 1948. It was the venue for a provincial memorial service for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, which drew mourners including representatives from government, the armed forces and community organisations. Lieutenant Governor Lynda Haverstock said that the late Queen "touched the lives of thousands of people whom she greeted with her characteristic warmth, including those who had the good fortune to meet her when she visited Saskatchewan" in her remarks at the memorial service.
• Statue of Ramon Hnatyshyn: Saskatonian and Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn is remembered in a bronze statues that stands opposite St. John's cathedral, created by Bill Epp in 1992. It was part of a controversial demonstration entitled Artist as Politician: In the Shadow of the Monument by artist Taras Polataiko, who produced its mirror image by painting himself bronze and standing before it motionless. His plaque read "Dedicated to Ukrainian Canadians Who Never Became the Governor General", and the performance drew the attention of national and international news media.

Other downtown landmarks include the Connaught Block, named for Governor General The Duke of Connaught, and built by Frederick Blain in 1912. The Patricia Hotel is named for his daughter, Princess Patricia of Connaught (Lady Patricia Ramsay). The King George, Saskatoon's oldest standing hotel, named for King George V. Although its condition declined since its elegant beginnings, renovation and conversion into retail, office and condominium spaces was undertaken by a developer in 2007. Beneath the exterior ceramic tiles lies a façade of terracotta and stone and the upper floors once included niches which held a series of terracotta knights in armour. Three other hotels which have disappeared include the Queen's Hotel on First Avenue, believed to have been named for Queen Victoria, the Royal Hotel, constructed during the same period, and the King Edward Hotel, constructed in 1906. The first frame structure of the Queen's Hotel was built in the 1880s and replaced by a stone building in 1892–1894, and this was in turn replaced by a larger and more elegant building in 1911. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1980. Across the river from the university hospital is the Prince of Wales Promenade, a popular viewpoint along riverfront trails, opened by the Prince of Wales in 2001. Several schools have historic connections to the Crown, including Ecole Victoria School, King George School, and Albert Community Centre, a municipal heritage property.

• Delta Bessborough

• King George School

• Albert Community Centre

• Victoria School House

• Hnatyshyn Statue

• King George Building

• Royal University Hospital

• St. John's Cathedral

• Patricia Hotel

• King Edward Place