Inside the construction work at Parliament Hill Dec.2020

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we're at the early stages of

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construction in the center block in the

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parliament welcome center

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a really exciting phase of any project

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right at the beginnings

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so we are doing the demolition and

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abatement work of the interior spaces of

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the center block

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doing the excavation work for the new

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parliament welcome center

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and soon we'll be starting the

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restoration of the heritage masonry

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of this building it's a really exciting

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phase of the project and in parallel

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we're now down to the final strokes and

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finishing off

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the future uses of the building the

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conservation strategy

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and the design elements in what is

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undoubtedly the most important building

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in canada

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and one of the most important spaces

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globally but it's incredible

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the opportunity to see the center block

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with fresh eyes

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as you get to the uh see the the

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sculptures

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and carvings up close and touch them uh

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to be able to get to the

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ceiling of the house chamber and the

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senate chamber

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it's really uh quite incredible so my

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position as dominion sculptor

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is is to continue the ongoing sculpture

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program that the architect

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john pearson had in mind for the

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building and that is to

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his intention was to leave hundreds of

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of uncarved blocks within the the space

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so that those blocks could be carved and

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sculpted to interpret canadian history

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as it evolved

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and the work is continuing to go on

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today what's amazing it really is you're

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you're it really puts you in touch with

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the work that was done by people in the

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past it's it's like

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connecting to a hundred years of

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sculptural history i mean this is

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it's a the building itself inside is an

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artwork that has been

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in the making for a hundred years and

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you're part of it it's like you're

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picking up your predecessor's brush or

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picking up the materials it's

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it's an amazing feeling project is

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coming along great

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the excavation is right on track the

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demolition and abatement

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is is on track we've we've removed about

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5 000 truckloads of rock

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from the what will be the new parliament

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welcome center

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at the end we'll be removing about 50

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000 of those truckloads

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uh we're about 40 percent completed the

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demolition and abatement phase of the

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the interior so starting from the sixth

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floor

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and from the basement and working down

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to those high heritage

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spaces like the the chamber floor so

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starting from those areas with the lower

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heritage elements

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but taking great care even there all of

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the marble

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and wood being carefully disassembled

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cataloged and stored

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and then taking out the

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asbestos-containing material at this

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point we've removed about five and a

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half

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million pounds of asbestos containing

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material

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and that's being carefully taken away to

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special

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uh containment sites uh

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and everything on this project is being

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done with a tremendous amount of care

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and with the uh with the objective of

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getting this right

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so that it works for a modern parliament

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and

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21st century and beyond and makes

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generations of canadians proud into the

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future