Content deleted Content added
New renovation section & image tidyup with new gallery |
m →Recent history: Added renovation section, removed banner |
||
Line 140:
===Recent history===
On 18 May 1966, [[Paul Joseph Chartier]] killed himself as he left a Centre Block washroom by accidentally detonating the bomb he had been preparing to throw onto the floor of the House of Commons from the public galleries to, as he put it in his notes, "exterminate as many members as possible." The building's security was heightened; however, tests of this by journalism students that November proved the precautions had been little improved.<ref>{{Citation |last=Hanlon |first=John |title=The Day We Broke the Silence of Centre Block |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=20 October 2007 |url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=c882ed16-7e48-48cd-95c8-b2df5af38ed7&p=1# |access-date=24 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107073229/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=c882ed16-7e48-48cd-95c8-b2df5af38ed7&p=1 |archive-date=7 November 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Later, in 1989, [[Charles Yacoub]] hijacked a [[Greyhound Lines]] bus and drove it up onto Parliament Hill.
By the 1990s, it was deemed necessary for an upgrade to be made to the Centre Block's mechanical and electrical systems, which would necessitate a new plant for these amenities. To avoid disturbing the building's heritage façades and spaces, as well as erecting new structures within the parliamentary precinct, the two storey, {{cvt|50|x|40|m}} square plant and new loading docks, called Centre Block Underground Services (CBUS), were constructed underground, seeing, in 1997, the removal of {{cvt|25000|m3|cuft|-3}} of rock from under and near the Centre Block.<ref>{{cite conference |first=T.G. |last=Carter |author2=Webb, G.S. |author3=van Bers, M.V. |author4=Culham, G. |title=Design and construction solutions for excavation under and adjacent to the Parliament Buildings, Ottawa |pages=3 |publisher=Golder Associates Ltd. |year=2000 |location=Toronto |url=http://www.golder.com/archive/1999%20-%20CBUS%20Excavation.pdf |access-date=2 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://parliamenthill.gc.ca/modern/ssec-cbus-eng.html |title=Centre Block Underground Services (CBUS) |access-date=27 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706181651/http://parliamenthill.gc.ca/modern/ssec-cbus-eng.html |archive-date=6 July 2011}}</ref>
[[2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa|Several shooting incidents]] occurred on 22 October 2014 around [[Parliament Hill]] and in the Centre Block, primarily in the Hall of Honour. Michael Zehaf-Bibeau,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/23/only_one_shooter_involved_in_parliament_hill_attack_ottawa_police_say.html |last=Edwards |first=Peter |title=Only one shooter involved in Parliament Hill attack, Ottawa police say |date=23 October 2014 |newspaper=Toronto Star| access-date=24 October 2014}}</ref> after fatally shooting Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a soldier mounting the guard of honour at the [[National War Memorial (Canada)|National War Memorial]], made his way to Parliament Hill and to the Centre Block.<ref>{{cite news |work=National Post |title=RCMP release security footage of Michael Zahef Bibeau during attack, say he shot soldier in back |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/10/23/rcmp-release-security-footage-of-michael-zahef-bibeau-during-attack-say-he-shot-soldier-in-back/ |date=23 October 2014}}</ref> There, he engaged in a firefight with Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons [[Kevin Vickers]] and members of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]], which ended when he was killed by RCMP Constable Curtis Barrett.<ref name="post-2015-06-02">{{cite news |work=National Post |title=Who fired the fatal shot that killed Michael Zehaf-Bibeau? Eyewitness account suggests it wasn't Kevin Vickers |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/who-fired-the-fatal-shot-that-killed-michael-zehaf-bibeau-eyewitness-account-suggests-it-wasnt-kevin-vickers |first=John |last=Ivison |date=2 June 2015 |access-date=13 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015132844/http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/who-fired-the-fatal-shot-that-killed-michael-zehaf-bibeau-eyewitness-account-suggests-it-wasnt-kevin-vickers |archive-date=15 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=CTV News |author=CTVNews.ca staff |title=Mounties who helped end Parliament Hill attack still not recognized |url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mounties-who-helped-end-parliament-hill-attack-still-not-recognized-1.2608529 |date=13 October 2015 |access-date=15 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014205318/http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mounties-who-helped-end-parliament-hill-attack-still-not-recognized-1.2608529 |archive-date=14 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Future upgrades have led to extensive internal renovations, including both parliamentary chambers and associated areas. As this would cause a multi-year disruption, plans were made to enclose the [[East Block|East]] and [[West Block|West]] blocks' courtyards for use as temporary legislative chambers while the Centre Block is out of commission.<ref>{{cite web |author=Public Works and Government Services Canada |title=Rehabilitation Phases |url=http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/modern/rehabilitation/phase-eng.html |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=3 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610161856/http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/modern/rehabilitation/phase-eng.html |archive-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> These plans were later changed, and the Senate chamber has been housed in the former Union Station, currently the [[Government Conference Centre]], since 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Senate of |title=The Senate of Canada Building |url=https://sencanada.ca/en/about/scb/ |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=SenCanada |language=en}}</ref> Commons has occupied the West Block as previously arranged, after it was renovated from 2011 to 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/renovation-old-ottawa-train-station-1.3656605 |title=New look for Ottawa's old train station approved by NCC |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref>
===Centre Block project===
| |||