British Columbia Parliament Buildings

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About British Columbia Parliament Buildings

The British Columbia Parliament Buildings are located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and serve as the seat of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

The Neo-Baroque buildings face north on Belleville street facing the Inner Harbour and diagonally across from The Empress Hotel. A large statue of Queen Victoria stands on the front lawn as well a statue of a soldier to commemorate the province's World War I, World War II and Korean War dead. Atop the central dome is a gold-covered statue of Captain George Vancouver.





History

Construction of a new Parliament Building was first authorized by an act of the provincial legislature in 1893, the Parliament Buildings Construction Act. The province, anxious to show its growing economic, social and political status, was engaged in an architectural competition to build a new legislative building in Victoria, after outgrowing the previous wooden building, colloquially known as "The Birdcages". Francis Rattenbury, a recent English immigrant entered and signed his drawings with the pseudonym "A B.C. Architect", he progressed to the second round signing his drawing "For Queen and Province" and eventually winning the competition, despite being only 25 years old.

Despite many problems, including going over budget—the original budget was $500,000 the final amount was $923,000—the British Columbia Legislative Building was officially opened in 1898[1]. The grand scale of its 500-ft (152-m) long andesite façade[2], central dome and two end pavilions, the richness of its white marble, and combination of Baroque rigorous symmetry, use of domes and sculptural massing with the rusticated surfaces of the currently-popular Romanesque Revival style contributed to its being an innovative and impressive monument for the new province. Its success garnered Rattenbury many more commissions in Victoria and other parts of the province, including the Legislative Library 1913-1915, the design of The Empress Hotel, the Crystal Gardens and the Vancouver Court House (now the Vancouver Art Gallery). The andesite of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings is from Haddington Island in the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt.[3] The granite used to build the buildings came from Nelson Island, on the sunshine coast.

Besides the elected Members of the Legislative Assembly, two organizations have been granted the privilege of using the Legislative Chambers during the legislature's December recess: the British Columbia Youth Parliament (since 1924, except during its sessions in the late 1940s and early 1950s) and the British Columbia Universities' Model Parliament.

During the 1994 Commonwealth Games, free music concerts were held on the front lawns of the buildings, attracting up to 40,000 people.

Source: Wikipedia



B.C Parliament Under Constuction

Courtesy B.C Archive