The Vimy Memorial Band Stand was erected by the Saskatoon Kiwanis Club in honour of the Canadians who fought at Vimy Ridge in 1917. It was inspired from the 1936 pilgrimage to Vimy, France, where King Edward VIII unveiled a memorial to Canada and her dead at Vimy Ridge on July 26.
The project began under the presidency of J.C. Hackney and a special bandstand committee was established. Construction of the Vimy Memorial Band Stand cost the Kiwanis Club $3,521, less a $57 donation from the city. Frank J. Martini, member of the Kiwanis Club, served as the architect on the project.
The memorial was designed to serve as a centre where the community could gather to enjoy and participate in good music and was a reverent tribute to the nations in the Great War. The Vimy Memorial Band Stand was built in Kiwanis Park on the bank of the South Saskatchewan River facing the junction of 20th Street and Spadina Crescent. Built of concrete and painted white, the semi-domed roof, crowned with a lantern (a turret crowning a dome) is supported by eight pillars. Steps lead to the band area, which is enclosed by an iron balustrade.
The first event held at the Vimy Memorial Band Stand was the dedication and its presentation to the City of Saskatoon on September 1. 1937. Mayor R.M. Pinder accepted the Band Stand on behalf of the City and accepted an engraved scroll as a permanent record of the event. Approximately 2,000 citizens attended the dedication.
During the Second World War, the memorial served as a centre for patriotic, war-related activities. The "Salute to Britain Ceremony" was held on April 23, 1941; Victory Torch Day, which added a permanent flagstaff to the site, was held on May 28 of that year. The following year on September 8, a public reception was held for the bomber crew which raided Saarbrucken, Germany. The memorial was also the centre for the Third Victory Loan Rallies of October 18 and 19, 1942. With the end of the war in 1945, the memorial became the centre of victory celebrations and occasions welcoming the Veterans home.
During the summer of 1987, the City of Saskatoon Parks and Recreation Department restored the Vimy Memorial Band Stand to its original state.
