By Susanna MacLeod
Special to Ontario Construction Report
“The front, with its seven towers, the central one rising to an altitude of 180 feet, will expose one of the handsomest buildings in America,” Harper’s Weekly writers gushed on Dec. 24, 1859, in describing the proposed new Canadian Parliament Buildings.
Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the new capital of the Dominion of Canada, and Barrack Hill (now Parliament Hill) was preferred as location for the dignified home of government. Sixteen architectural submissions were examined and debated.
The “High Victorian Gothic Revival style” drawn by architects Thomas Fuller and Chilion Jones was selected for the Centre Block, including Victoria Tower and the striking Library of Parliament. Adjustments requested by the Department of Public Works were made and refined, and costs re-calculated.
Approvals for the East Block and West Block plans by Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver also included revisions. Altered from straight blocks, the final designs were L-shaped structures with modified positions in relation to Centre Block.
“The original contract price for the construction of the Centre Block and Victoria Tower was $348,500, and for the East and West Blocks, $278,810,” according to geologist D.E. Lawrence in “Building Stones of Canada’s Federal Parliament Buildings.” The buildings were scheduled for completion in 1862.
Plans called for limestone exteriors, the type of rock common in the region. However, Fuller was doubtful about the choice of stone. While resilient, the limestone would present a dull, dreary grey finish.
Writing to government engineer Samuel Keefer, Fuller says: “We have been most anxious to find some other stone lighter in colour and of equal durability, and have for some months been making enquiries and obtaining specimens of the sandstone in the neighborhood…,” quoted Don Nixon in Behind the Scenes of Parliament Hill.
Templeton and Ohio sandstones were Fuller’s preference for quoins, and window and door dressings, and the varied hues of Nepean sandstone for the rubble facing. Keefer approved the change which, Fuller added, “would be very pleasing and would add far more to the appearance of the building than could be produced by an outlay of ten times the amount in ornamentation by moldings, carvings, &c.”
Work on the new Parliament buildings began on Dec. 20, 1859. “The first stones—local Nepean sandstone—are laid in the spring of the following year,” noted “History of the Hill” by Government of Canada. “Red sandstone and Ohio freestone as well as grey and green slates for the roofs will be used.”
Nepean sandstone was available at quarries about 16 kms from the job site. The quarry owners ran into difficulties and had to close operations. The contractors developed their own sandstone quarries a few kilometres further out.
The first quarry provided good-quality stone and, architect Stent said, “was easily broken square, but the stone from the next quarry did not rise in beds, required to be blasted, and broken with plug and feather, and had to be worked on the beds and joints.”
Thousands of workers turned the wilderness overlooking the Ottawa River into a hectic construction site with equipment, rocks, dirt, and noise. Wages ranged from $1 per day for excavator/labourers and general carpenters to $2.50 per day for a wagon team and driver. Wood carvers daily earned $3.00, and architects received $3,200 annually. To cut and fix the native sandstone, costs ranged from 20 cents to 75 cents per cubic foot.
Touring North America, the Prince of Wales was honoured on Sept. 1, 1860 to lay the white marble cornerstone, quarried from Arnprior. The city (population about 15,000) celebrated the historical event confirming Ottawa’s status as capital of Canada.
By late 1861, authorities were dismayed at runaway building costs. Construction ceased and an inquiry held. Three thousand workers were temporarily cut from the payroll, but Ottawa benefitted from the pause. “Those same artisans and workers constructed many of the social structures, such as churches and schools, hotels and residences,” said City of Ottawa’s “A Virtual Exhibit: Ottawa Becomes the Capital.”
Initial construction estimates did not include installation of ventilation and heating. Also, the Public Works office failed to accurately assess the onsite bedrock depth; deeper than estimated, it cost much more to excavate for the foundation. With poor management, cost overruns, and labour problems, the final price to build the Parliament Buildings came in at “$1,750,720 for the Centre Block, Victoria Tower and Library,” Lawrence wrote, plus “$641,036 each for the East and West blocks.”
The handsome buildings were occupied by the Legislature in mid-1866, four years after the desired date. Fifty years later, cries rang out and thick smoke billowed through the halls. On the evening of February 3, 1916, Centre Block was ablaze. The beautiful building was in ruins by morning.
Rounds of architectural drawings, estimates, and re-construction began, with the Peace Tower and carillon as grand features replacing the destroyed Victoria Tower.
© 2019 Susanna McLeod is a Kingston-based writer who specializes in Canadian History.