Sandra Schmirler – perhaps better known in many circles by her nickname “Schmirler the Curler” – is one of Regina’s best-known athletes. Originally born in Biggar, Saskatchewan, she went on to become one of the world’s best female curlers, leading her team as skip to win 6 provincial, 3 Canadian, and 3 world championships throughout the ‘90s before leading Team Canada to gold at the 1998 Olympic games. The win against Denmark solidified Schmirler’s place – alongside her teammates Jan Betker, Marcia Gudereit, and Joan McCusker – in history, with the medal being the first awarded for women’s curling since the sport’s last Olympic appearance in 1924.

Having earned a Bachelor’s in Physical Education from the University of Saskatchewan in 1985, Schmirler moved to Regina and began working at the city’s leisure centres, where she ultimately became the supervisor of the South East Leisure Centre. She married Shannon England in 1996, and their two daughters were born in 1997 and 1999.

Schmirler passed away at in March, 2000 after a battle with cancer at the age of just 36. Her passing was mourned across the country, with Prime Minister Chretien memorializing her “as a champion curler” and “exemplary sports ambassador”, noting her “bright, engaging personality and her incredible zest for life, qualities that were so clearly in evidence as she fought so valiantly against her illness”. In honour of Sandra, the South East Leisure Centre was renamed in her honour, as was the road leading to her team’s practice rink at the Callie Curling Club.

In honour of Women’s History Month, we honour incredible contributions of the “Queen of Curling” to sport, to recreation in Regina, and her legacy that lives on through the Sandra Schmirler Foundation.

Photo credit: Sandra Schmirler Foundation, retrieved from Discover Humbolt

Sandra Schmirler speaking at a banquet for her 1994 World Champion Women’s Curling Team. City of Regina Archives, CORA-C-1015. Lieutenant Governor Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk is in the background, herself the first woman appointed to the role.

Heritage Regina is a proud contributor and supporter of the new Tracy Youck Foundation Memorial Scholarship at the University of Regina, which will be award to a student in either the elementary or secondary streams of Arts Education in the Faculty of Education. The scholarship is in memory of Tracy Youck, who passed away in 2023; many of you will know her husband, James Youck, who is a friend of Heritage Regina and has spoken at our Lecture Series several times in recent years. For more information about the Foundation, or to donate, you can visit their webpage.

IN MEMORIAM

The Gordon Block (1912-2023)

The Novia Café pictured in 1975, seen from Victoria Park. Photo credit City of Regina Archives, CORA-A-1306

After a difficult retirement, the Gordon Block – the former home of the beloved Novia Café – passed away at the age of 111 in a tragic incident of arson. She had been a recluse for over a decade.

Gordon Block opened at 2170 12^th Ave, on the north side of Victoria Park, in 1912, right as Regina was rebuilding from the devasting 1912 Tornado. The Novia Café, once a beloved downtown staple, opened in the building in 1918. Initially a fine-dining establishment, the café underwent a renovation in the 1960s that transitioned the restaurant into a more casual dining atmosphere. It was an iconic downtown restaurant, even surviving a frightening incident in 1982, when a metal I-beam from the implosion of the McCallum Hill Building smashed through the east wall of the building, into the Novia. After 93 years of hospitality, the beloved café ultimately closed its doors in 2011.

In 1996, the building was designated a Municipal Heritage Building as part of the creation of the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District. The bylaw that created the district created guidelines to “preserve and promote the distinctive heritage and character of the area surrounding Victoria Park and the Scarth Street Mall by facilitating the rehabilitation of the predominantly pre-World War I heritage buildings and encouraging the redevelopment of properties in keeping with the character of the adjacent heritage buildings”.

Heritage Regina supports the revitalization of the lot formerly occupied by the Gordon Block and hopes to see that it respects the Conservation District’s guidelines, which stipulate that any new buildings “should relate to the design elements of the heritage buildings in a way which enhances the existing heritage character”. The presence of so many buildings surrounding the Gordon Block within the District that predate World War I means that careful attention must be paid to the character and history of the district whenever development projects are undertaken.

Throughout its life, Gordon Block had its doors open to the community. Now, with her gone, the space will continue in that spirit, with an outdoor recreation space being planned for the site where she once stood.

Cremation of the building has taken place. In lieu of flowers and in memory of the Block, please consider attending a Heritage Regina event to learn more about the history of our city, or talk to your city councilor to advocate for the preservation of Regina’s cultural and built heritage.

Photo by Troy Fleece, National Post.

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