Taylor Field site should be recognized

Hopefully the City of Regina and the Saskatchewan Roughriders have already decided that there needs to be a permanent tribute to the actual old Taylor Field site. But just in case there is nothing in the redevelopment plans, I thought it best to write this editorial.

The idea is that there needs to be a green space dedicated to old Taylor Field in the new community that is replacing it — just a simple, inexpensive grass park with a plaque, with no stands or other amenities. It could act as a gathering place and a source of pride for the new community.

The idea is to preserve a very small piece of Taylor Field — not the old stadium or stands or the artificial turf, but a piece of the geographical location that formed the stadium.

They did something similar but bigger in Edmonton, creating Clarke Field from the old Clarke Stadium.

The idea for Regina would be to save only a small portion of Taylor Field’s “location” that could be sodded and made into a grassy area with a plaque. Centre field would be ideal but not necessary.

The vision is to have a park large enough in one of the new neighbourhoods to throw around a pigskin and reminisce about old Taylor Field, Ron Lancaster, George Reed and all the other greats that played on it.

The park plaque would inform users that this is the actual location where the Rider greats played.

To be able to enjoy a game of touch football on the same location would be pretty awesome. Hopefully the City of Regina already has plans for such a gathering place, but to date this has not been confirmed by the city when queried.