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We all know that buildings don't always turn out like the renderings. Last-minute changes and real-life materials can all cause discrepancies between the vision and reality of a project. In our weekly Flash Forward Friday feature, we take a look at how different projects stack up.
In March 1857, 10 years before Confederation, the Legislative Assembly voted to raise 225,000 Canadian Pounds (or $900,000 USD), for the construction of a new Parliament Building, along with two departmental buildings and an official residence for the Governor-General. Over the next few months, following the May 1859 declaration of a design competition in which the winner would receive 250 Canadian Pounds, no less than 18 different architects submitted 33 separate designs, 16 of which were for the new Parliament Building. While the designs ranged from Neo-Classical to Georgian Revival, the majority of submitted plans called for a firm reliance upon the Gothic Revival, a style which would define a great deal Canadian architecture well into the next century.
In the end, local architects won the day, with the Toronto-based firm of Fuller & Jones selected for the construction of the Centre Block, while architects Stent & Laver were selected for the West and East Blocks. Little more than a logging town, the City of Ottawa had been incorporated just a few years prior in 1855, having previously been known as Bytown (after Col. John By), from which the city's famous ByWard Market gets its name today. As such, the site selected for what would become Parliament Hill was nowhere near the picturesque place it is today, though the commanding view of the Ottawa River, along with the defensive capabilities inherent to the site's rocky cliff, made for the perfect spot for the Canada's new Parliament Buildings.
By 1861, with costs ballooning far above initial projections, all construction on the site was halted while a special Commission of Inquiry into the financial aspects of the project attempted to shed some light upon what could be done to remedy the situation. In January 1863, the Commission reported that above all other issues with the project, there had been an initial lapse of due diligence in terms of the surveying efforts of the cliffside Parliament Hill site. The bedrock below the majority of the site was much thicker than anticipated, and thus work had been much slower and more labour intensive than predicted, driving up costs. On top of this, the tendering process for construction had been done improperly, the predictive costs of construction grossly undervalued, with the implication being that perhaps some kind of underhanded favouritism or closed-door politicking had interfered with the financial transparency of the project.
Once construction resumed in 1863, it would be another three years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra expenses, before the official opening of the new Parliament Buildings in 1866. In the end, while the initial outlay of funds had been set at the equivalent of about $1 million USD, the final costs exceeded this amount by a staggering $1.8 million USD for a grand total of nearly $3 million USD, or triple the initial estimate. However, despite any political or public backlash, Canadians were generally pleased with the construction of a Parliament befitting the new country. The excitement that accompanied Confederation in 1867, just a year after construction wrapped up, served to put a much more positive light onto the public worth of the project.
Mentioned in a previous SkyriseCities article, the original Centre Block of Parliament Hill (as seen above) was devastated by a horrific fire on February 3, 1916. Raging overnight, the inferno spread to most of the building, setting off a series of explosions before the climax of the fire with the collapse of the Victoria Tower, along with its bell, which came crashing down to the ground. Reconstruction began almost immediately, under the architectural supervision of John A. Pearson of Pearson & Darling, along with Jean-Omer Marchand. Despite the Great War in Europe, then at its height, the original cornerstone was relaid by the Governor-General, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, exactly 56 years after his brother, the future King Edward VII had laid the previous stone back in 1860.
The new Centre Block opened in 1920, with construction continuing for several more years until 1927. Since then, Parliament Hill has continued to serve its original purpose, while serving as the site of many significant, landmark events in Canadian History, including the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) in 1939, the VE Day celebrations of May 8, 1945, the raising of the new flag on February 15, 1965, Canada's Centennial on July 1, 1967, The Silver Jubilee on October 18, 1977, and the signing of the Canadian Constitution on April 17, 1982.
In more recent years, Parliament Hill has become a modern tourist destination. Nightly celebrations, public events, and concerts are held throughout the summer months, with Canada Day remaining the highlight of the calendar year. Desiring to shed its perception as a sleepy government town, Ottawa's recent rebranding strategy has placed a much higher focus on the grandeur and excitement of its many historic structures, with Parliament Hill as the crown jewel, along with the capital's many museums and galleries. For anyone who has been to Ottawa in the last few years, the city's reinvention as major tourist destination and metropolitan centre has been a stunning success. The city today draws in millions of visitors per year, with Parliament Hill acting as one of the most popular — and most photographed — sites in the country.
We hope you have enjoyed this special Canada Day edition of Flash Forward Friday! SkyriseCities HQ will be closed today in honour of the holiday, but we'll return Monday with our regular coverage. Have a great weekend!
