We must protect Wascana Park

We must rise up to save Wascana Park. If nothing is done now, our park will become a commercial enclave, building by building.

Proposed buildings are: Conexus head office, 80,000 square feet adjacent to Darke Hall. This has been promoted as a Conexus contribution (up to $8.25 million, including the city’s land donation — $3 million) to campus renovations, when really, it is a giveaway to Conexus. Conexus receives a 90-year, cut-rate lease on 2.6 acres of donated land. Brandt Industries has been authorized to replace CNIB with a large office building.

Rumours abound of upcoming developments.

More than 100 years ago, our forefathers had a vision of a public park free of commercialization. The 1978 Wascana Centre Act states that Wascana Park can only serve four purposes: government, cultural arts, education and recreation.

Commercialization will mean the cutting down of countless trees and heavy traffic through the park, as well as new roads and parking lots, disrupting the tranquillity and purpose of a public park. Do citizens want this?

The park’s founders entrusted us to be good stewards of the land, and to respect its original intention. We must protect that legacy for ourselves, our children, and our children’s children. L.V. Weidner, on behalf of the group No Business in the Park