From the past for the future: construction contracting keeps our heritage alive

Summit, Nov 2003 by Brimmell, George

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Construction contracting keeps our heritage alive

So where do you find a blacksmith when you need one - or a leaded glass artisan, or a wood conservator, for that matter?

Not your everyday problem, but a recurring challenge for all governments in the heritage preservation business. And the federal government is multi-millions of dollars deep into this activity these days. Fortunately, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) has been developing a measure of expertise in locating and lassoing these heritage artisans.

Shawn Gardner, manager, Regional Operations and Commodity Management in the department's Real Property Contracting Directorate, explains. "We treat the heritage buildings in the same way as a new building...in that the basic principles are the same." He adds, "We use the Government Electronic Tendering Service (more commonly known as MERX) to advertise our needs. In the notice that would go up, we would clearly state that it is a heritage building with specialized heritage requirements for the work. We try to identify it there...and that's no different than a brand new building in a 'green field."

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Excavation work continues in basement levels.

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But the difference is how to find the artisans needed. "If there's some very specialized work - like heritage masonry, or glass, like the stained glass that was renovated in the memorial chamber in the Peace Tower - there's some specialized work that artisans are very good at doing, but their specialization may not be computerized," says Gardner.

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Library of Parliament before repairs began.

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"Therefore, if we advertise it on MERX, they may not learn about it. We'd be shooting ourselves in the foot if we leave it only to the MERX system. So for certain requirements we'll try to go to associations...of stonemasons, let's say...or whatever...depending on the type of work that's involved."

There are also some esoteric types of work, such as blacksmithing. "We needed a blacksmith to deal with repair and restoration work on the iron gates at the Wellington Street entrance to Parliament Hill," says Gardner. "Now where do you find a blacksmith these days? Well, we contacted the blacksmith at Upper Canada Village."

Upper Canada Village is a celebrated reconstructed community, on the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall. Artisans such as blacksmiths, broom-makers, dressmakers, tinsmiths, printers using hand-set type, go about their crafts as their forebears would have done generations ago. They're dressed in period costumes, as are serving wenches and others.

"These kinds of artisans know where their peers would be and they were very helpful," says Gardner. "That's how we started, and then we posted the requirements so that others could see them."

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Library of Parliament before repairs began.

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Currently, one of PWGSC's most fascinating, and challenging projects is the $52 million restoration of the Library of Parliament, a masterpiece of 19th century architecture.

The Library, completed in 1859, was the only component of the Parliament Buildings to come through the devastating fire of February 3, 1916. A smouldering cigar in the parliamentary reading room set the Centre Block ablaze, but a quick-thinking Library employee, M. MacCormac, slammed shut the heavy iron doors in the passage that connected the Library to the main building.

But in 1952, the Library suffered a fire of its own. That fire, caused by faulty wiring, burned in the dome. And after 10 hours, when the blaze was finally extinguished, 200,000 gallons of water had poured off the roof or run down the ceiling, soaking books in the reading room, in the two upper galleries and in many of the underground vaults.

The government contemplated replacing it with a modern structure, but decided to restore the building. It had to be closed for 46 months for the renovations.

Since then the building has suffered from old age, weather and corrosive air pollution. It's also become too small for its growing collections and services, the problem compounded by the need for computers, photocopiers and other electronic gear in a modern library.

So it's being repaired, restored and upgraded - all the way from the weathervane on the pinnacle of the roof down to the ventilation system in the deepest sub-basement. Planning started in 1995, the construction in 2002, and it won't be finished until 2005.

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Upper roof structure and weathervane lifted from the Library of Parliament building.

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"For the Library" says Gardner, "we went for a general contractor...and many general contractors were capable of doing the work. Fuller Construction won the bid - but within the general contract, there are a number of specialized sub-contractors that were required.

"The bookcases are very old mill work, which in certain cases had to be taken apart, then put back together in exactly the same location. It's not something the average carpenter can do."