P.E.I. Province House revealed after 4 years covered in canvas

The first three panels dropped in dramatic fashion to reveal the long hidden face of Prince Edward Island’s Province House.

The staple of downtown Charlottetown has been covered since 2018 for renovations to the external stonework.

A small crowd gathered to get a front row seat for the big reveal.

"I have been following it as well and I’m really excited," said Roma Downe-MacQuarrie. "It’s a part of us, a part of Canada, a part of Charlottetown, so I’m happy to be here."

"We know, I think, that what we’re going to see was going to be better," Paula Downe-Willis. "It was time to do it. It’s kind of exciting, it was hiding for a bit."

The building’s facade is made up of 8,000 stones, 3,800 were repaired while 1,300 needed to be replaced.

The reproduction stones are lighter, but are expected to darken with time and exposure to the elements.

So many of the stones need to be replaced after 175 years of wear and tear on the building.

Hundreds of skilled masons did the work, much of it with local stone, and using many of the same techniques the original builders did.

"Water infiltration and time have caused many issues with the stone, the structural stability, that we needed to correct," said Senior Project Manager with Public Services and Procurement Canada Tim Chandler. "The work of all these tradespeople over the past four years have really improved all that. We have a building that’s going to last for many, many years to come."

The project was expected to be finished by 2018, but faced numerous setbacks, including the global pandemic, and bankruptcy of the contractor restoring the building’s 101 windows.

"It put us back in time," said Nicolle Gallant, Parks Canada Project Manager. "They had to learn the windows, they had to do different mock ups than what was already done, so it was definitely a challenge bringing them up to speed and get us back on timelines."

Workers are taking down the wrap this week and it’s expected to be gone by the end of Friday. The scaffolding however, will stay up through the summer but the reveal gave a glimpse of the beautiful old building.

"You can see that there’s progress being made," said Sean Casey, Member of Parliament for Charlottetown. "You can see you pretty soon we’re going to be able to enjoy it."

Work is still taking place inside and it’s expected to be underway for at least another year.