Peguis Pavilion - Kildonan Park

The Peguis Pavilion – Kildonan Park

 

Well I was goin’ to spout off about the business in Iraq an’ the Ukraine. In fact, I got my rage meter cranked up to overdrive an’ was just about ready to fire off the first salvo when I came upon somethin’ earth shatterin’ that temporarily changed my mind.

Me an’ the missus picked up my sister to go have a stroll in Kildonan Park an’ look at the flower beds an’ enjoy some fresh air. We done that too. Of course all that amblin’ around raised our appetites somewhat an’ so we ambled ourselves into the Peguis Pavilion an’ the bran’ spankin’ new “Food Evolution” restaurant.

We shouldn’t a had’a done that. See, we come from a time when the pavilion was designed as a pavilion, much like the one at Assiniboine Park. In fact, my sister used to work at that pavilion in Kildonan Park back in the day. She had a summer job there when she was goin’ to school. Them days, it was a big rotunda with servin’ stations in the four directions. The waitresses had all they could do to keep up with the crowds on weekends. It was like Grand Central Station.

Then they mowed the place down an’ built a new one back in the fifties. The best part o’ that was the change room downstairs where you could put on your skates and use the washroom before headin’ out on the pond. They even had music (such as it was). The only thing was, the leased out restaurant wasn’t that big a deal. Not only that, but there was this giant empty space in the dining area, totally unoccupied. Except for the odd diner. What a waste!

Well the city must’a noticed too cause they closed the place down and started major renovations. When I saw that I wrote to Mayor Sam Katz about my ideas for the pavilion. They should put up a small stage so young start-up bands, poets an’ authors could perform for free to the breakfast an’ lunch crowd, thus getting some exposure for theirselves an’ providin’ entertainment for the people there. I figured it would be a crowd pleaser an’ draw an awful lot of young folks to the park and the pavilion, thus bring some life back to the park. To my surprise, Mayor Katz got back to me sayin’ it was an interstin’ idea an’ he’d pass it on to somebody.

Well I guess they never got the memo ‘cause the first thing I noticed was a great big bar in the corner of the restaurant. A bar? In a park pavilion? C’mon, who thought that up? That’s like having eight ounce wine glasses at communion. An’ the station where you placed yer order took up another fair bit o’ space too. The menu itself wasn’t too bad though. The only thing about it was that it was much better on paper than on the plate. Where’d they get that food anyways? It tasted like hospital rejects. The waitresses were friendly enough an’ pleasant, but totally lackin’ in trainin’.

At a year behind schedule and two million dollars for renovation, it seems the city has created a “make work” project slated for failure. I hate to say it, but I don’t think it’s gonna fly. At least that’s how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin’.