Province House (Prince Edward Island)

The Province House in Charlottetown is the parliament building of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Iceland and since 1847 the seat of the Legislative Assembly (legislative assembly). In September 1864, the building was the venue of the Charlottetown Conference and is therefore classified as a National Historic Site.

Description

The three-story neoclassical building located in downtown Charlottetown at the Grafton Street and is built of sandstone quarried in Wallace ( Nova Scotia ) and transported to the island. In the west adjacent building block is the 1964 Confederation Centre of the Arts opened. To the east of the Parliament Building, the Coles Building is located; the former courthouse now houses the Parliamentary Services and is connected by a tunnel with the Province House. The area around Province House is designed in the style of a Victorian garden and has several monuments on. Two cenotaphs commemorate the soldiers of Prince Edward Iceland, who fell in the Boer War and during the two world wars.

History

The foundation stone was laid in May 1843, the opening in January 1847. The cost was £ 10,000. From 1 the Charlottetown Conference took until September 8, 1864 held at Province House, at which representatives of various colonies in British North America for the first time discussed the possible merger to Canadian Confederation.

1973 agreed by the Canadian National Park Service Parks Canada with the vice governor of the province out for a period of 99 years to take over a part of the cost of maintenance and renovation and to preserve the building as a national heritage. From 1979 to 1983, an extensive renovation. The Legislative Assembly has since claimed one half of the building, while the Konföderationssaal serves as an exhibition space. In 1983 the Province House was declared a National Historic Site and placed under monument protection.