Anyone who has watched Parliament Hill lately has seen the cranes surrounding the Centre Block as it moves through a decade-long renovation. A similar conversation is building in Ontario, where the Legislative Assembly at Queen’s Park has been described as needing a billion-dollar facelift.
Prince Edward Island just lived that reality, and it’s about to have something tangible to show for it. Province House in Charlottetown, built in 1847 and tied to the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, is preparing to reopen after 11 years of intense renovation. The project began after Islanders noticed structural damage in 2015. The roof had a history of problems, and water damage took its toll.
The price tag reached nearly $140 million CAD, a major lift for Canada’s smallest province, with an annual budget of $3.8 billion. With Province House’s national significance, the federal government agreed to cover the cost, keeping the restoration moving.
For mason contractors and crews who do restoration work, the on-site scope stands out. Project leaders lowered the basement by five feet. That meant each stone had to be numbered, dismantled, cleaned, and set back in place. The work drew a workforce of as many as 1,000 people over the life of the project, including masons from around the world. Renovators also cleaned historic brickwork in the basement during the rebuild.
Crews uncovered human details along the way, including carved stone faces described as the “whimsy” of masons from 180 years ago. They also found the original architect Isaac Smith’s signature under a floorboard, and preserved it behind glass.
While PEI legislators met across the road during construction, the building team worked to keep pieces of the original structure and its stories intact, even leaving a section of basement quarters at the original level. With Ontario’s Queen’s Park renovation delayed, planners looking for a real-world example now have a fresh case study in Charlottetown.
Read the full, original article from TVO Today here.