Canada prime minister’s official residence by Langevin Block on Wikipedia.org
Ottawa/CMEDIA: Canadian prime minister’s 150-year-old official residence on 24 Sussex Drive is now under Construction but the National Capital Commission (NCC), the federal body responsible for official residences casts doubts on the full restoration.
NCC was reported saying that the construction work on that property work must be done irrespective of the government’s ultimate decisions with the heritage property.
The rehabilitation work on 24 Sussex Drive which started last week by removing asbestos and obsolete mechanical, heating and electrical systems is expected to take about a year, an NCC spokesperson reportedly said.
The construction work follows the commission’s decision to formally shutter the residence for health and safety reasons.
Although unoccupied for years, the property was still being used by some staff until it finally closed down in 2022.
Perched high above the Ottawa River, the Gothic Revival-style home of Canada’s prime minister has also been used to host garden parties on the home’s expansive two-hectare grounds.
But the property now infested with rodents, has also been deemed a fire hazard because of the outdated knob and tube wiring from another era.
The critical condition of the residence was concluded in a 2021 report which set $36 million as its estimated cost for completion, and “current replacement value” of the residence at $40.1 million.
After living since 2015 at Rideau Cottage on the grounds of the Governor General’s residence, a relatively small home originally built for an aide, Trudeau was reported saying that he has no plans to save the building, despite repeated pleas from heritage advocates.
#CanadianPrimeMinister, #OfficialResidenceUnderConstruction; #NationalCapitalCommission
