The design, elevation and general plan of the edifices, were prepared
and drafted by Mr. Eugene Tache, the Assistant-Commissioner of Crown
Lands. The internal divisions and specifications were laid out under
the direction of Mr. P. Gauvreau, the Engineer of Public Works; the
contractor was F. X. Cimon, M.P.
Messrs. Beaucage & Chaliauvert, undertook the cut stone work, which
was carried out by their foreman, Mr. Bourgeaud.
Messrs. Cerat & Vincent, of Montreal, are contractors for the
sculpture in stone, and the galvanized iron roof and ornamentation in
the same material and in zinc was executed by Messrs. De Blois &
Bernier, of Montreal, whilst Mitchell & Co. contracted for the heating
apparatus.
The whole building when completed is expected to cost about $800,000.
Opposite looms out the long tea-caddy-looking building, built by the
Sandfield Macdonald Government in 1862, - the Volunteer Drill Shed. Its
length, if not its beauty, attracts notice. "Ferguson's house," next it,
noted by Professor Silliman in his "Tour between Hartford and Quebec in
1819," is now difficult to recognize; its present owner, A. Joseph,
Esq., has added so much to its size. This antiquated dwelling certainly
does not belong to a new dispensation. Another land-mark of the past
deserves notice - the ex-Commander of the Forces' lofty quarters; from its
angular eaves and forlorn aspect it generally went by the name of "Bleak
House." I cannot say whether the place was ever haunted, but it ought to
have been.
