The armoury is the current headquarters of the North Saskatchewan Regiment, a Reserve infantry unit of the Canadian Army.
Prominently seen in front of the armoury is a WW1 German canon.
It is a 15 cm Kanone 16, and was donated to the City of Saskatoon by the Canadian Government in 1919.
At one point years ago I remember there being complaints about the cannon being located there. Some people apparently thought it wasn't appropriate, an odd thing to think about a military facility.
The armoury and its "lawn ornament" commemorate a war that is fading from the public conciousness. Even the youngest of those who have clear memories of World War One are several years past one hundred years old. The veterans of the war are all gone. Most of the thousands of commuters who pass by it daily on busy Idylwyld likely don't know the history behind the name, and probably aren't curious enough to find out.
Many years ago the cannon was located on the Exhibition Grounds. At the time the gun was painted an extremely ugly silver. I remember that during Exhibition week children (including me) used to climb all over it and of course gave no thought to why it was there and where it came from. Also, no one apparently complained about it being at the Ex.
ReplyDeleteRight now, given the amount of rust I see on it, I think that the regiment should organize a working party and slap a new coat of paint on it.