Temple Gardens refreshes Moose Jaw attraction with thermal spa upgrades

Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa reopened its mineral spa after a three-week closure, unveiling a thermal circuit built around heat, cold and recovery. The Moose Jaw attraction marked 30 years in operation with a facelift that puts the cold plunge at the center of the experience instead of treating it like a stand-alone add-on.

The renovation finished on June 19 and was officially unveiled on June 30 after work began in mid-April. Coverage put the project at $1.76 million in one account and $2.1 million in another, but both descriptions point to the same refresh: new saunas, steam rooms, massage rooms, showers and a firepit area, along with a more complete thermal-spa offering. Guests now move from a dry sauna or steam room into a cold plunge taken up to the neck for about 30 seconds, then sit, hydrate and recover before repeating the cycle.

That sequence matters because it shows how a legacy spa is being sold less as a pool with extras and more as a destination built around ritual. Temple Gardens’ thermal setup now mirrors the contrast-therapy format that has gained traction in boutique recovery spaces, but it does so inside a long-running hotel and spa in downtown Moose Jaw, with the mineral water and the broader wellness experience packaged together.

The property’s ownership adds another layer to the upgrade. Peepeekisis Cree Nation bought Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa in 2022, and Peepeekisis Developments Ltd. has described the purchase as part of the Nation’s economic-sovereignty goals. Allan Bird, chairman of Peepeekisis Developments Ltd., said on June 29 that buying the property built pride and supported economic development. The reopened spa now sits under that ownership as the Nation continues to shape the resort’s next chapter.

Temple Gardens’ thermal identity also reaches deep into the site’s history. Saskatchewan government material from May 31, 1996 documented the opening of Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Resort, and the hotel’s history traces the geothermal water back to 1910, when drillers searching for oil struck hot springs 1,350 metres below the surface. With 181 guest rooms and suites, the property is leaning on both legacy and renewal, turning a familiar Moose Jaw stop into a fuller thermal-wellness circuit just as the cold plunge economy keeps spreading beyond specialty studios.