OTTAWA: Canadian lawmakers on Monday began their last session before elections later this year in new temporary digs to make way for a huge renovation of parliament and other government buildings that will last a decade.
The MPs moved out of the old Gothic Revival style parliament at the end of last year, and are set to debate and pass laws in an atrium specially-built in the courtyard of the nearby West Block.
The Senate, meanwhile, has been moved into an old train station to the east, next to the Rideau Canal. They are scheduled to return to work at the end of February after a break.
And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been moved into an office in West Block previously used by his father when he was justice minister and by his grandfather when he was fisheries minister.
Started several years ago and expected to continue until at least 2029, the Can$3 billion (US$2.3 billion) parliamentary precinct renovation in downtown Ottawa also includes a new visitor center, the rehabilitation of several crumbling 19th century government buildings, as well as an updated Library of Parliament.
West Block, which previously housed lawmakers’ offices, was built in three stages from 1865 to 1910 and was last renovated 50 years ago.
Its latest renovation work, which began in 2011 and ended this year, saw more than 200 masons working on the building daily, dismantling and rebuilding 28 chimneys and two spires, and removing, numbering and reinstalling half of the building’s 140,000 stones (19,000 stones were replaced).
Also, some 3,500 square meters of new copper roofing was installed, more than 1,350 windows were made-to-measure for the building, 2,900 tons of materials containing asbestos were removed, and 28 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of bedrock was blasted to create new underground levels below the new House of Commons.
The work required the hiring of “thousands of building specialists, tradespeople and artisans from across Canada,” said James Bridger, one of the many architects who worked on the project.
Their collaborative process — including earthquake proofing the old structures, laser cleaning original stones to vaporize dirt, and conserving statues, portraits and other decorative elements — has rivaled “the finest-tuned symphony orchestra,” he said in a statement.
The new glass roof above the lower chamber is arguably its most interesting feature. It is supported by 20 steel columns that “rise up like giant trees,” according to the architects.- AFP
