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The Édifice Price ((英語:Price Building)) is an 18-floor (originally 16) skyscraper in Quebec City, Canada. Built in 1930-1931 amid controversy for Price Brothers ltd., it is the tallest building in the Old Quebec historical district, and one of the oldest skyscrapers in Canada. The building is the property of the Quebec City municipal administration, but is leased to and used by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. A memorial is attached to the building. In 2001, it became the location of an official residence for the Premier of Quebec, which occupies two of the upper floors. == History == In 1927, John Herbert and Arthur Clifford Price, having inherited the prosperous Price Brothers Limited after the 1924 death of their father, Sir William Price III, decided to build a new headquarters for the company in Quebec City. They did not find anything to their liking on Saint-Pierre street, at the time Quebec's main financial district, so decided on Saint-Anne street close to the City Hall.〔〔 The design for the 16-floor building was awarded to Ross and Macdonald, a prestigious firm of architects based in Montreal.〔 The city, eager to demonstrate a progressive ethos, gave assent to the project despite heavy criticism that the administration was proving unable to protect Québec's historic area because the building replaced two historic houses.〔 Sources conflict as to exactly when construction started: one cites June 1929 to May 1930,〔 while another says the construction permit was delivered in December 1929 and construction began in June 1930;〔 a third gives only years: 1928-1930.〔 The building's cornerstone bears an inscription reading "This stone was laid Oct. XXIX MCMXXIX Although completed successfully, the building turned out to be little more than an extravagant nail in Price Brothers' coffin. The Great Depression pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy, and the Price Family lost both control of the company and most of its fortune. Various restoration work was undertaken during the 1950s and '60s, mostly to the interior of the building.〔〔 In 1983, it was acquired by the city of Quebec, which largely used it for its civil engineering division, echoing a similar situation in New York City where the Manhattan Municipal Building is an extension of New York City Hall.〔〔 Soon afterwards a long term lease placed the Price Building under the management of the Société immobilière Trans-Québec (SITQ, now Ivanhoé Cambridge), the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDP). Further extensive renovation began that lasted until 2005, and included the addition of two extra floors on the inside, a terrace on the 16th floor and the installation of elevators.〔〔 In 2001, the 16th and 17th floor became the Premier of Quebec's official residence.〔 Between 1997 and 2002, a high-end psychiatric clinic occupied floor 2 and 3 of the building. The administration has strongly affirmed the timing of this move with the Premier's installation to be a complete coincidence.〔〔 On July 12, 2009, tightrope walker Ramon Kelvink Jr. walked from the 13th floor of the building to the Château Frontenac's 15th floor as part of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Quebec City.〔〔 The construction of the Édifice Price was heavily criticized in the 1920s, both because it showed disrespect for Price Sr.'s intention of relocating the Price Brothers company's operations to its original business centre of Kénogami (now Jonquière), and because the monumental construction was perceived as out of proportion in a mixed commercial and residential area where few buildings exceeded four or five floors.〔〔〔 Criticism continued after the construction, and a few years later the city council passed a by-law limiting building heights in the old town to — a size only exceeded by one other building at the time: the then seven-floor Hôtel-Dieu de Québec.〔〔 Nowadays, however, the building is considered an architectural monument in the capital and a defining element of the city's skyline.〔 When the project for the construction of the Le Phare Québec project for a major skyscraper in the Sainte-Foy area began attracting criticizing, parallel with the major controversies that surrounded Édifice Price's construction were drawn.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Édifice Price」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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