On Tuesday, several trees were bulldozed outside of Regina’s Pioneer Village to make room for a parking lot.
The land is owned by Government House, which plans to clear the space in order to accommodate more visitor parking.
“Right now at Government House we have limited parking available — a total of about 38 sites, or parking stalls, and no room for buses to turn around,” said Assistant Deputy Minister of the Property Management Division for the Ministry of Central Services, Nancy Cherney.
“The expansion of the parking lot that we’re accommodating now will allow for greater traffic to be able to visit Government House safely.”
Cherney said the expansion will create bus turning lanes and parking for buses to help visitors access the building safely.
Some, including MLA Trent Wotherspoon, took to Twitter instead, calling out the province’s decision.
Cherney, however, said while 10 trees in total have been removed, it comes down to safety. She added the project will retain as much green space as possible.
“It’s not just a sheet of asphalt, we will have a grassy green oval space in the centre of it and we will retain all of the trees we can around the perimeter and replant the ones that are being removed,” Cherney said.
The project is expected to be completed within the next three months.