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Regina’s Islamic association is set to become the owner of the Pump Roadhouse, and its leaders are calling on local Muslims to visit the shuttered Victoria Avenue bar.

They won’t be coming to drink alcohol, but tea — as they gather on Nov. 3 to celebrate the site of their future mosque.

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The Islamic Association of Saskatchewan (Regina) has spent years trying to find a new space for worship. Its president, Munir Haque, said a deal to buy the property is almost finalized. His plan is to demolish the existing bar and build a new facility, giving the city’s Sunni Muslims their first purpose-built mosque.

“I’d like for it to be an iconic Islamic structure that reflects local architecture as well, one that will express our identity as Prairie Muslims,” said Haque, who is a landscape architect by training.

The association reached a deal with the Pump’s owner, Mark Smith, who said he wasn’t initially planning to sell the property. But the offer convinced him it was time to close a bar that has stood on the site since 1972.