At 130 years old, Ontario's legislature is showing its age.
There are lead pipes and asbestos running through the walls, mountains of old cables and wires stacked on top of new ones, an inefficient steam heating system with parts that frequently fail and fire safety systems in need of upgrading.
A report is underway to determine exactly what work is needed, but it is clear it will not come cheap, said Legislative Affairs Minister Paul Calandra.The vast scale of repairs and upgrades needed in the stately old legislature known as Queen's Park has been discussed on an increasingly urgent basis for the past several decades, with options on the table such as shutting it down block by block for the construction work.
"There is a recognition that four or five, maybe maximum six years, frankly ... that's when we basically hit the end of the lifespan of the building, and it starts becoming very, very challenging to maintain it," Calandra said.
The standing committee on procedure and house affairs is set to hear Thursday from the deputy clerk of administration, chief information officer and director of real property services for the House of Commons.
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