Renovations on the BMO heritage site will start in 2012.
The historic Bank of Montreal building on Wellington Street is getting redeveloped as a formal hall for government functions.
Construction companies have until Oct. 11 to make bids on the project, which is budgeted for approximately $65 million.
The building’s main hall will replace the Confederation Room in the West Block as the site for parliamentary meetings and gatherings such as budget lockups.
Slated to be part of the Parliamentary precinct’s $5-billion rehabilitation, the building has been sitting empty since the bank’s lease expired in 2005. Public Works and Government Services is accepting bids online .
According to Public Works, renovations will include masonry repair, window refurbishment, seismic reinforcement, and accessibility upgrades. Interior renovations will also include new mechanical, electrical, lighting, and IT/multimedia systems.
A two-storey addition, which will nearly double the bank’s size, is planned to replace the postage-stamp garden beside the building. In the new space, Public Works will accommodate a security screening area, washrooms, food services, loading facilities and electrical rooms.
The plan is for contractors to accommodate the modern requirements for large parliamentary meetings while preserving the heritage features.
The bank building is unusual in that its heritage designation also covers interior elements. The banking hall has a grand, basilica-style ceiling with recessed decorative panels, large bronze chandeliers and long rectangular black marble counters run the length of the room.
These counters divide up the space in a way difficult to use, but heritage advocate David Jeanes estimates that in between them there will still be seating for around 600.
Jeanes, vice-president of operations for Heritage Ottawa, leads two historical walking tours that both include the former bank, which was built in 1932.
“I’d really like to see them keep the marble staircase that leads from the Sparks Street entrance to the Wellington level,” says Jeanes.
Renovations are scheduled to start in the new year and be completed by 2015.