The Plains Hotel was built in the early to mid sixties in Regina SK.
It sits at the corner of Albert St. and Victoria Ave. in the heart of the city.
This is one of few hotels that remain in downtown Regina.
Noted for it’s “Weather Tower” designed by a famous Canadian artist Ted Godwin it was originally intended for the Wheat Pool building
and would let people on farms check up on the weather before deciding if they would leave the city.
The tower ended up going to the Plains Hotel when the Wheat Pool building changed its mind.
CTV a local TV station would show the “Weather Tower” every night on the news,
and those lucky to have a color TV could see the changing colors of the tower which would indicate the weather.
I don’t recall all the colors but I know a few like Green, Blue & Red, and they would either start at the top and fall or the bottom and rise depending on the weather.
The weather tower has not worked now for quite some time, and I’m sure if my memory serves me right it has not worked since the late 70’s.
I know there isn't very much documented on the hotel, but it's been a landmark on that corner for a long time.
The Plains will be demolished in the spring of 2011 to make way for a new residential tower,
and the Plains Hotel's signature weather tower will be incorporated into the new building, and hopefully restored to working condition once again.
I captured this image today and cross processed it to look like E6 slide film from the day and also ran it through PTLens a Tilt/Shift program.
I plan on going back for a few more images before she comes down.