The Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios are located in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

at the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street. Built in 1913, the structure has served as a normal school, military training facility, and fine arts building for the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

. It was internally gutted and reconstructed as a movie and television studio facility in 2002. The studios were operated by the Saskatchewan Film and Video Development Corporation (SaskFilm) a non-profit corporation responsible for promoting the film industry in Saskatchewan. SaskFilm was shut down in 2013 when the provincial government reorganized funding for arts organizations. It is currently operated by Creative Saskatchewan, a provincial government agency created in 2013.

History

The Saskatchewan Normal School was a publicly funded provincial post-secondary institution for the training of teachers. Such training began in Regina as early as 1890. The first permanent home for was built in 1913 at the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street. The

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

style structure was designed by Regina architects

Storey and Van Egmond Storey and Van Egmond was an architectural partnership in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, that functioned from 1907 to 1924. Initially, the principals were Edgar M. Storey (1863-1913) and William Gysbert Van Egmond (1883-1949). Edgar M. Storey Ed ...

. Classes began in January 1914 as the building was still under construction; it was completed in 1915. Facilities in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

were opened in the 1920s to serve the demand from a growing population. The Normal School operated until 1940, when it was taken over by the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

. The facility was used for military training until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Following the war, declining enrolment forced the closure of Regina's normal school. Various provincial government departments used the building until 1959, when teacher training was moved from Moose Jaw to Regina. In 1964, the normal schools (referred to as "teachers' colleges" since 1953) were transferred to the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

and the building became part of the U of S Regina Campus. The building housed the Faculty of Education until a new facility was completed in 1969, at the new main campus in the city's south end. From then it was used by the university's Department of Fine Arts from 1970 until new facilities at the main campus led to building's closure in 1997. In the mid 1990s, the Government of Saskatchewan, the City of Regina and the Saskatchewan film industry went into partnership and redesigned the building. The building was gutted, leaving the north, east and part of the west walls, then rebuilt to become the Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios. Project management and design was done by Stantec Architecture, and construction work was done by Dominion Construction. J.C. Kenyon Engineering, MacPherson Engineering and Ritenburg Associates also consulted on the project. The studios have been used less frequently for film and television production since the provincial government's changes to arts funding in 2013.

Facility

The Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios have 4 sound stages which have the capacity to film feature-length movies, television sitcoms or any other needs of the media industry. The building is approximately with three separate sound stages, from 7,000 to . Carpentry, makeup, wardrobe, & other production facilities are also located on site. The sound stage connects to the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

Broadcasting Centre, allowing for easy access to their facilities and equipment. Film and television productions that have used the facility include: * ''

The Toy Castle ''The Toy Castle'' () is a Canadian children's television show that aired on Treehouse TV, Citytv Saskatchewan, SCN, CTV 2 Alberta, Access, Knowledge Network, TVOntario and TFO. It was aired from September 4, 2000 to December 26, 2003 and produce ...

'' (2000-2002) * '' Falling Angels'' (2003) * ''

Corner Gas ''Corner Gas'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Reruns still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The series ...

'' (2004–2009) * '' Beyond Corner Gas: Tales from Dog River'' (2005) * '' Tideland'' (2005) * ''Sabbatical'' (2007) * '' The Messengers'' (2007) * '' How I Married My High School Crush'' (2007) * ''

Surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

'' (2007) * '' It's Been a Gas'' (2009) * '' Dolan's Cadillac'' (2009) * '' Walled In'' (2009) * ''

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'' (2010) * '' Space Milkshake'' (2012)

References

{{Regina Corporations Buildings and structures in Regina, Saskatchewan Cinema of Saskatchewan Canadian film studios Gothic Revival architecture in Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan Former school buildings in Canada Former education in Saskatchewan University of Regina