Montreal City Hall will be open to public visits starting Saturday after been closed for five years during a massive $211-million restoration project.
WATCH: Montreal's city hall reopened to the public after five years of restoration work. The construction was costly, coming in way over budget and schedule. But as Global's Tim Sargeant reports, everyone is thrilled with the end result.It’s been a long time coming but finally, Montreal’s iconic city hall — the “citizen’s house,” as elected officials like to call it — is finally reopening.
More than 750,000 hours of labour and 3,000 workers were involved in modernizing the building while maintaining its historic charm. He says the focus was restoring and repairing as much of the original material as possible, from oak wood doors and banisters to the copper roof, marble floors and limestone façade.City hall has become more user-friendly with hands-on interactive photos and timelines as well as a renovated terrace with skyline views that will be open to the public.
“I’m really excited. I feel really proud to be mayor at this period of time,” Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said during a press conference.How do traffic slowdowns and congestion affect the economy?“It’s worth it, it’s really open. There’s a lot of light and a lot of accessibility for people,” she said.The building was constructed in 1878 but a devastating fire destroyed its interior in 1922, leaving only its exterior façade intact.
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