I despise when someone says “meh, it’s just an old building.” Buildings are like old friends. They create memories for us and we think they’ll always be there for us…until they’re not.

Regina lost another historic building downtown that was once home to the iconic Novia Cafe. This on the air, we heard stories of people who got engaged at this building, whose parents took them there as kids for milkshakes, and from those who had small family reunions at the Novia.

“My late husband and I went there often in the early 60’s. In fact we got engaged there on Christmas Eve 1962. Good food, lots of good memories,” texted a listener named Dianne.

“My family used to go into Regina from the farm for dental and other medical appointments in the 1950s and 60s. Whenever we were in downtown Regina we would go to the Novia Cafe. Dad would take us there for milkshakes after our dental work. The whole family would go for fish and chips. There was a waitress who worked there for years who had tight blond pin curls I think she waited on us every time we were there,” recalled Gay Kennedy on the CKRM text line.

This legendary and architecturally stunning building is slated for demolition now. Another historic building lost to time, neglect, and fire.