Parliament Hill

The West Block rehabilitation project was a multi-year undertaking designed to completely renovate and update the West Block on Parliament Hill. The Visitor Welcome Centre will be a modern four-level underground complex, designed to blend perfectly with the historical structures and natural surroundings of Parliament Hill. The objectives of the archaeological monitoring program were to record and document archaeological resources (features and artifacts) as they were exposed during the excavation. Through monitoring of excavations, several archaeological features were encountered, two of which were investigated further: the Officers’ Quarters Midden and the Powder Magazine. Both sites are associated with the Barrack Hill period of the Parliamentary precinct (circa 1827 to 1858).