Wascana lake was created in 1883 by damming Wascana Creek, a low flow seasonal run-off stream, to serve as a reliable water reservoir for the town and railway ... and which residents readily began using for recreation. In 1905 Saskatchewan gained provincial status and planning began on a monumental – and in retrospect wildly optimistic – new capital building in Regina, a vision which required an equally monumental landscaping plan. The new Saskatchewan Legislative Building was completed in 1912 and with it the 1912 Mawson Plan for Wascana Park.