Article content“When Isaac Smith built the building, the roof leaked. They didn’t have the right membranes … The depth or length of the shingles was wrong. It allowed wind-driven rain and capillary action to drive water up underneath the roof, underneath the shingles. And that leaked.”Article contentThis created almost 175 years of knock-on effects, Willis said.Article content“That water would get down on top of the wall and … then work its way down between the stones. It would dissolve the binding material that’s in the mortar and it would just leave it with sand. So essentially, what you had was a stack of rocks.”Article contentThat three-storey stack of rocks in the heart of Charlottetown would certainly one day collapse.Article content11 years of renosArticle contentIn 2015 when the building closed to the public, Stephen Harper’s Canadian government had committed $12 million for restoration work, some of which had been completed for the 2014 sesquicentennial celebrations. Estimates at that time pegged the total cost somewhere closer to $50 million.Article contentArticle contentThe official line at the time was that Province House would be closed to the public for three to five years. Inside the legislature, reporters were hearing it could take up to 10 years. Of course, none of us knew then the true state of repairs needed, nor that we were headed for a pandemic.Article contentArticle content Workers begin the first stages of removing the scaffolding from the exterior of Province House in Charlottetown in this file photo. Photo by File /The GuardianArticle contentP.E.I. also didn’t have a foundation of homegrown designers and labourers when the work began.Article content“It is fair to say that we didn’t have a whole lot of expertise on P.E.I. and that we did have to bring it in,” Willis said during his lecture. “But what we have on P.E.I. was a determination and a willingness to learn and a desire to be part of the process.”Article contentThe $50-million project that could take up to 10 years spread to $138 million and almost 12 years by the time the doors officially opened last weekend.Article contentWas it worth itArticle contentDuring the opening day lecture, Willis was asked how he justifies the costs. Willis told the crowd that $138 million over 12 years amounts to 40 cents per Canadian taxpayer per year.Article contentArticle content“That’s what the math works out to,” he said.Article content“The net benefit to P.E.I., all of the money that came here and that rolled into our economy and kept our people working all through COVID. The knowledge that’s been left here. The companies, the people that have moved here. We’ve had people move here and set up plastering companies and set up masonry companies. They didn’t exist (prior to the project). I say that $138 million was well worth it.”Article contentHe added, that at a time when Canada’s sovereignty is being threatened and there is a growing “Canada strong” sentiment, Province House can be a symbol of unity.Article content“The idea that we rebuild ourselves and that we’re strong and that this building is built strong again. You can’t tell me that’s not important right now in Canada,” he said to a round of applause.Article contentThe audience member who asked the question is former legislative reporter for the CBC, Kathy Large, who also happens to be the great-great-great-granddaughter of Isaac Smith, the Province House architect.Article contentShe told me afterwards, “I am immensely grateful that Province House has been saved.”Article contentArticle contentArticle contentJocelyne Lloyd is deputy editor of The Guardian. She lives in Charlottetown.Article content
JOCELYNE LLOYD: Was restoring Province House worth the cost
