On Canada Day, approximately 100,000 individuals, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, gathered at a concert stage in front of the Canadian War Museum for a day of music, occasional speeches, and fireworks.
For the second consecutive year, the celebration did not take place on Parliament Hill. It will not be held there, against the traditional backdrop of the Parliament Buildings, for many years to come.
The main Centre Block, which houses both the Senate and House of Commons chambers, is currently undergoing a construction project that will span over 10 years. The project aims to restore decades of deterioration, significantly reduce its carbon footprint, and bring it up to current fire and earthquake safety standards. Additionally, the project will update the building’s electrical, plumbing, heating, and communications systems, some of which have remained unchanged since its opening in 1927.
The project is budgeted at over 5 billion Canadian dollars, with approximately 600 million dollars already spent. Unlike another historic Canadian government building, 24 Sussex Drive, which is currently abandoned, the Centre Block project has managed to avoid political controversy. Recent prime ministers have been hesitant to allocate the tens of millions of dollars required to make 24 Sussex Drive habitable again, fearing backlash for appearing to spend money on themselves.
In 2019, both the House of Commons and the Senate relocated their chambers and committee rooms to temporary locations, turning off the lights in the Centre Block. Rob Wright, the assistant deputy minister at the Department of Public Works and Government Services and in charge of Canada’s renovation project, expressed confidence that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, a public service strike, and a construction workers’ strike, the work will be completed as planned by 2031 and within budget. The federal auditor general largely agreed earlier this year.
The rehabilitation of the Centre Block has been particularly complex due to two factors. Firstly, the decision was made to preserve all of the building’s heritage elements, such as the House and Senate chambers, the prime minister’s office, and the Hall of Honour, in their original form, albeit cleaner and without later additions like broadcasting cables. Secondly, Parliamentarians’ indecisiveness regarding their preferences has caused delays in key design and engineering decisions, although this was not mentioned by Mr. Wright, but by the auditor general.
This week, I had the opportunity to tour the Centre Block construction site with Mr. Wright, wearing safety glasses, a hard hat, a high-visibility vest, and steel-toed boots. The project is currently concluding its first phase, which primarily involved protecting or removing items for restoration, including artwork, woodwork, and carvings. Both chambers have now been stripped back to their brick and terra-cotta tile structures, filled with scaffolding up to their ceilings, and are almost unrecognizable…
2023-07-08 05:00:02
Article from www.nytimes.com
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