The restoration of Province House was a big job. These are two key players in the project

Welcome back to Compass and welcome back live to Province House, this historic building we are now in and two key players in the restoration project tonight. Geraldine Arsenault, I'm going to read because it's a long title. Field Unit Superintendent for PEI with Parks Canada and Ryan McGuire, Senior Project Manager with Public Services and Procurement Canada. Thank you both for being here. It's our pleasure to be here. Yeah, very welcome to have you here. First of all, where are we in this historic building well we're presently in the Confederation Chamber and this is where things happened for the creation of Canada so this is where that very first meeting of 1864 took place the the Charlottetown Conference where the idea of the Dominion of Canada kind of formed and where the first discussions took place so i'd say it's a pretty important chamber as far as historic places go uh and historic significance for Canada i'd say this is a pretty high up there This is it, I mean, three years later Canada was formed after that, after those intense negotiations here in this building, in this building, and then in Quebec and then in London after that. Tell me about restoring the Confederation Chamber to the way we see it now. Yeah, as you see it now, it wasn't like this, I bet you know, several years ago you You know, it's been a while since we started this project, but the wall just behind you was actually one of the south-facing walls It was one of the most deteriorated walls as we completed the investigation phase. So, actually, this wall from the interior came down stone by stone and was rebuilt from top to bottom And then, as you see, there's a three-part plaster and all the faux painting inside You know, it's one of the marvels that we have here. And is this how it would have looked back then, like as close as can be? Well, Ryan will be able to give some details in regards to all the technical aspects, but certainly it would have looked very close to what it looks like right now when we reopened the building. They looked for the original colors for the time of that, for the time for 1864-ish. Right. And they looked for the original colors and the look and feel of what it was back in the day. How challenging was that for you in terms of all the technical pieces that had to go into that? Yeah, and it goes back to some of the tradespeople that we had to source. You know, when we look at the woodwork in here, the woodwork, most of the wood pieces in here are original to the building. You know, there were some minor repairs, but the majority of it is true to the building and the period. But, you know, when you look at the columns and stuff like that, you know, the painting that went on to make it look and feel like it did in 1864, something that we're very proud of. Now, let's talk about the length of time. Geraldine, I said to Geraldine during the commercial break, did you ever feel like, I'm never going to see the end of this? And? Well, my answer was, yeah, maybe we did feel that way on some days. But yes, it took a long time. And it's when you have the care of a building like this and you start looking at what needs to be repaired in that building and you realize the importance of the building for the history of Canada, you really have to take the time it takes. So, Ryan will be able to speak of the different phases of construction, but, you know, you really have to assess as you open the walls, as you take a look at the different elements of the building. And sometimes you find surprises that you weren't expecting, and that can add some time to any, well, you only have to think of a renovation project at home. like we were speaking of a little bit before and sometimes you find surprises in your walls and it's no different here at Province House and usually those aren't very pleasant surprises which is i'm assuming why the price tag went up so high as well yeah well it was a funding model that the government of Canada had and it aligned with the phases of the work that we discussed you know we started with that initial investigation phase and that allowed us to sort of peel back some of the layers and sort of find out what really was wrong with the building that was early on and then as we got into the demolition you know that allowed us the time to then put the plans and specifications together for the restoration piece that started with the exterior stone and the roof system we've got the building envelope tight and you know there's leaks right from day one is what the rumor was in this in this building and that the water infiltration through the walls caused a lot of damage over those years you know 180 years 180 years of leaking you know just a little bit of damage yeah so as we open up those walls we really found that the interior sandstone wall all the mortar had washed out of the building itself and a lot of the stones then were just really dry fit friction fit and gravity holding a lot of these walls together you know and then so as we worked on the demolition phase we were allowed to have our consultants and engineers develop the plans for the interior restoration and building systems and trying to bring this building to the 21st century as well as respecting the heritage piece that we have here you know so there's modern day systems in here that a lot of people will be happy to have we have you talked about the lighting you know we've turned what these these original gas layers to the building but these are all original 1864 right so they they were electrified at some point in time in history now we have led systems the building is air conditioned for the first time in its lifetime and the airways that are sitting here now will really appreciate that summers are getting hotter right for sure but then uh with those systems that also allows the building to breathe and to you know work correctly and that will hopefully help keep this restored piece longer than yeah i mean it's a balancing act keeping the you know the history of it but also modernizing it so that it can be around for much much longer so before we go We don't have much time left, but I do want to get just both your thoughts on the significance of being back here in Providence House. Well, it's absolutely fabulous from a Parks Canada perspective. We're so, so proud of all the work that went into the building and to see that the historic or everything that's historic and the heritage features of the building are preserved. But as Ryan was saying, we brought it into the 21st century. So it will be actually a functional and comfortable place to work for our legislative assembly, for example. And future generations, right? And future generations. It's, you know, it's going to be a conservation project that will bring this building into the future. Well, congratulations. And Ryan, just your final quick thoughts on how it feels to finally be done. No, it's a big weight off my shoulder for sure. and I appreciate everyone that I've worked with, you know, the tradespeople, Parks Canada, you know, our members at the provincial government, you know, and as an islander myself, I'm very proud of this project. Well, you should be proud. It's beautiful. And I thank you for spending some time with us tonight on Compass, really means a lot. Thank you to you both. Thank you.