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{{Short description|Historic building in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada}}
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2019}}
{{for|the style of architecture|Colonial architecture}}
{{Infobox Historic building
|name      = Colonial Building
|image     = Colonial Building, St. John's, Canada.jpg
|caption   =
|map_type  = 
|coordinates  = {{coord|47|34|15.34|N|52|42|24.44|W|region:CA-NL_type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
|location  = Military Road<br />[[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]], [[Newfoundland and Labrador]]
|location_country = [[Canada]]
|architect = [[James Purcell (architect)|James Purcell]]
|client    =
|engineer  = [[Patrick Keough]]
|construction_start_date = 24 May 1847
|date_demolished =
|cost      = £18,335
|structural_system =
|style     = [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]]
|size      =
}}

The '''Colonial Building''' is a historic government building located in [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador]], Canada. The building was the home of the colonial and later provincial [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] government and the [[Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly|House of Assembly]] from January 28, 1850 to July 28, 1959. In 1974, it was declared a Provincial Historic Site.

In 1832 when the [[Colony of Newfoundland]] governed itself by [[representative government]] there was not a formal building assigned to house the [[legislature]]. The first home of the legislature was a [[tavern]] and [[Public house|lodging house]] on Duckworth Street owned and operated by a [[Mary Widdicombe Travers|Mrs. Mary Travers]].<ref name="saltwire.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/local/newfoundland-and-labradors-first-house-of-assembly-was-a-bad-tenant-174308/|title = Newfoundland and Labrador's first House of Assembly was a bad tenant &#124; Saltwire}}</ref> The stay was brief as in the legislature's haste and inexperience it forgot to vote approval for the funds to pay rent. The first building was destroyed in city fire of 1846.<ref name="saltwire.com"/> For the next seventeen years they would meet in various temporary quarters including the [[St. John's Court House#History|local courthouse]]. In 1846 an act was approved authorizing the construction of the Colonial Building as a permanent home.

On May 24, 1847, the cornerstone was laid by the Governor, Major-General Sir [[John Le Marchant (British Army officer, born 1803)|John Gaspar Le Marchant]]. The official opening of the Colonial Building took place on January 28, 1850, by Governor Le Marchant for the second session of the House's fourth general assembly.

== Construction ==
[[Image:Stamp Newfoundland 1928 20c Colonial Building.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Colonial Building on a postage stamp of 1928]]
[[Image:Colonial riot 500.jpg|thumb|250px|The riot at Colonial Building in 1932]]
[[File:Newfoundland House of Assembly 1914.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Newfoundland House of Assembly, ca. 1914]]
[[Image:colonial building 2006 chamber.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Colonial Building chamber, 2006]]
[[Image:colonial building 2006 ceiling.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Colonial Building chamber ceiling, 2006]]
[[James Purcell (architect)|James Purcell]] was the main architect and [[Patrick Keough]] was the contractor. Colonial Building, built in the style of [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] was constructed of white [[limestone]] specially imported from [[Little Island, Cork|Little Island]], [[County Cork|Cork]], [[Ireland]]. The [[facade]] features a massive [[portico]] consisting of six [[ionic columns]] supporting an [[entablature]] triangular [[pediment]]. The pediment is decorated with the [[Coat of Arms of Newfoundland and Labrador|Royal Arms]] sculpted in deep relief. The interior hall is screened with ionic columns supporting a quadrangular lantern dome. the two legislative chambers, each with a ceiling height of twenty eight feet, are decorated with [[Corinthian order|corinthian]] [[pilasters]]. The whole structure was built at a cost of £18,335.

In 1880 [[Alexander Pindikowski]], a [[Polish people|Polish]] [[fresco]] painter, then serving a 15-month prison sentence for [[forgery]] received a one-month reduction in his sentence for the immaculate fresco painting work he completed at both Colonial Building and [[Government House (Newfoundland and Labrador)|Government House]].

Worthy of note is the fact that the governing party had chosen to sit on the left side of the [[House of Assembly]] as opposed to the traditional right side of the speaker because that's where the heaters were located, and it was the warmest part of the house. To this day the ruling party in the [[Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly]] continues to sit on the left side of the [[speaker of the house]].

== Historic events ==
It was the site where [[responsible government]] was given Newfoundland in 1855. It was at this building that Newfoundland entered in the [[Commission of Government]] in 1934 and the location of the [[Newfoundland National Convention]] from 1946&ndash;1948 then in 1949 when Newfoundland entered into [[Confederation]] with Canada.

It was also the site of a number of political riots and disturbances. One of those was the [[1932 Colonial Building riot|public protest on April 5, 1932]], for  maladministration and corruption in government when all the windows were broken, doors smashed and furniture destroyed, which cost $10,000 to repair. The [[prime minister]], Sir [[Richard Squires]], barely escaped the building at that time.

The building was also the site of Newfoundland's first bank robbery, in 1850. Besides the legislative chambers, the Colonial Building contained offices, apartments for the caretaker and legislative librarian, and the Newfoundland Savings Bank. On the night of November 30, 1850, thieves broke in to the Colonial Treasurer's office through a ground floor window and stole £413 from an iron chest belonging to the Savings Bank. A £100 reward and pardon to accomplices was offered for information leading to an arrest. Two men, James Kavanagh and Michael Whelan, were caught, convicted and most of the money was recovered. Legislative librarian Sarah Perchard eventually received the reward, after petitioning the Governor .<ref name="encyclopedia">''[[Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador]]'', {{ISBN|0-9693422-1-7}}.</ref>

On July 28, 1959, the provincial legislature had its last working session in the building before relocating to the newly completed [[Confederation Building (Newfoundland)|Confederation Building]] on Prince Philip Drive.

== Restoration==

From 2010 to 2015 restoration work in the interior of building was undertaken to stabilize and restore the ceilings of the two chambers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nlarchaeology.wordpress.com/2013/10/|title = October 2013}}</ref><ref name="dcnonl.com">{{Cite web |url=http://dcnonl.com/article/id37153 |title=Newfoundland's historic Colonial Building to undergo restoration – Daily Commercial News |access-date=2013-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215055033/http://dcnonl.com/article/id37153 |archive-date=2013-12-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Current tenants ==
The Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development currently has its [https://web.archive.org/web/20070214065428/http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/historicsites/default.htm Provincial Historic Sites of Newfoundland and Labrador] offices located in the Colonial Building. Since late-2005, there are also three other [[non-profit organizations]] operating from the Colonial Building, including the [[Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador]] (MANL), the [http://www.anla.nf.ca/ Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives (ANLA)], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20061205022113/http://infonet.st-johns.nf.ca/providers/nfldhist/ The Newfoundland Historical Society].

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/colonial/default.html History of the Colonial Building by the ''Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051204214346/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/colonial.html Picture of the Colonial Building]

{{St. John's landmarks}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador]]
[[Category:Legislative buildings in Canada]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in Canada]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1850]]
[[Category:General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador]]
[[Category:Historic buildings and structures in Newfoundland and Labrador]]