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http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/...400/story.html

Government plans $50M subterranean visitors’ centre on Hill

Even as it is preaching austerity and cutting programs and jobs, the federal government is planning a $50-million underground visitors’ centre on Parliament Hill.

Sitting three storeys deep, the Visitor Welcome Centre is designed to accommodate the growing number of visitors to Canada’s seat of government. To be constructed in three stages, the first phase is expected to be completed in the summer of 2017 and cost $48.9 million. According to the Request for Proposals released by Public Works Canada, the centre will connect “the West Block, the Centre Block and the East Block Underground Service buildings.”

Initially, the centre will primarily serve the renovated West Block, which will be refitted as the temporary chamber of the House of Commons while the Centre Block undergoes extensive renovations. But with future expansion, it will “form a fully interconnected subterranean Visitor Welcome Centre.” The project is part of the 25-year $5-billion modernization of the Parliament Buildings that the government has committed to.

But at the same time the government is building a multimillion-dollar centre to enhance visitor experience, the federal government is also cutting back on the number of people who take guided tours. About 355,000 people take guided tours of the Parliament Buildings every year, with 20,000 doing so in the evenings. Officials confirmed that budget cuts to the Library of Parliament, which is responsible for tours, mean the evening tours would end effective Saturday, when the last tour is finished at 4:30 p.m.

Nancy Durning, communications adviser to the Library of Parliament, said the elimination of the evening tours would have limited impact, since they are only offered in the summer.

Officials believe that when the new centre opens, it will more than make up for the elimination of the evening tours.

One of the problems on the Hill, especially in the summer, is the lack of space required to screen and orient the large number of visitors, often frustrating them and ruining the experience. Officials believe the new and enlarged centre will not only help ease the security screening bottleneck, but allow large numbers of tourists and visitors enjoy the tours.

“The Visitor Welcome Centre is really the place where we want to welcome Canadians to Parliament, and for us, it is all about enhancing the experience of people visiting Parliament,” Durning said.

“It will have an interpretive aspect, whether that means interpretive panels or information about Parliament and parliamentarians. It will include the security detail as well.”

Public Works Canada issued a request for proposals Thursday, asking for bids from architectural firms that will act as primary consultant to lead a team of builders for the project. Bidders have until Aug. 9 to hand in their proposals.