The Canada flag blows on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as a construction crane works in the background, on June 28.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
An unprecedented renovation of Parliament’s Centre Block is on schedule and expected to allow for the building to reopen to MPs, staff and the public in 2031 or 2032, according to a project update.
Of the project’s forecast cost of between $4.5-billion and $5-billion, $896-million has been spent so far, says the June 28 update from the Public Services and Procurement Canada on work involving the main building on Parliament Hill.
The update also says the project’s target completion date is between 2030 and 2031, with Centre Block scheduled to open a year later.
“It’s the largest and most complex heritage rehabilitation ever seen in Canada,” the update says.
Centre Block is among seven buildings on Parliament Hill. Others include West Block, a complex opened in 1865, that has housed the House of Commons chamber where MPs have gathered for such routines as Question Period and debates since 2019.
The renovation project has also meant that key Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa have been moved from the lawn in front of Centre Block to an area of LeBreton Flats, an area west of the downtown core.
Centre Block opened in 1920, four years after the original structure was destroyed in a fire.
The renovation effort has a number of goals. They include replacing the building’s mechanical systems, restoring its frescos, stained glass and stonework among other features, making the building more accessible, restoring the Peace Tower, bolstering the ability of the complex to withstand an earthquake and building a new underground centre to welcome and process visitors.
The update says work on the welcome centre and Centre Block exterior are on track, with work on basement support posts for the Centre Block about 63 per cent complete.
After removing about 44,000 truckloads of rock to dig a 23-metre-deep hole in front of Centre Block, the report says that work will begin this fall on filling the space with the new welcome centre complex.