Built beginning in 1906, the building first came into use in June of 1908. For the first years of its life it turned out beautifully finished railway carriages to be used on the Island's rail line. The shop only built railway carriages for a few years, after which it became strictly a car repair and maintenance facility.
Originally the Prince Edward Island Railway, the line was taken over by the government even before it was completed and operated under the auspices of Canadian Government Railways. In 1918 management of the CGR (including the PEIR) was transferred to the newly nationalized
Canadian National Railway. In the 1980s, with the line losing money due to lack of traffic, CN chose to abandon the line, moving the final railway cars off the Island on December 31, 1989.
The building stood derelict and deteriorating for several years, until it was rebuilt to become the
Founder's Hall Interpretive Centre. The $4-million attraction opened in 2001 and told the story of Confederation, starting with the Charlottetown Conference in 1864. The centre remained open until 2015 but, due to lack of sufficient revenue, did not reopen in 2016. The visitor information centre has moved out, as well, but a few businesses, such as restaurants, remain. It's not certain what else is presently housed within at present.
RAILWAY CAR SHOP
On November 30, 1905 fire destroyed several of the wooden manufacturing shops at the Charlottetown rail yard. To reduce the risk of future fires, it was decided to rebuild the shops in brick. E.A. Wallberg of Montreal was the contractor. The car shop was used for the construction of well-appointed passenger cars. Starting with a set of wheels at one end of the building, carpenters and machinists would send beautifully finished carriages out the massive doors at the other end. After 1910 the shop was used to repair dilapidated cars or get them ready for scrap. The building was extensively renovated in 2001. A substantial northwest wing was added at that time.
From the City of Charlottetown Plaque
Intercolonial Railway Car Shop - Founders Hall
Begun in October of 1907, the car shop building was ready for occupation in June of 1908. The new facility was 250 feet long, 54 feet wide and 24 feet wide. Some 30,000 bricks were required for the 16 inch thick walls, supported by 2 foot pilasters on 20 foot centres resting in turn on a 13 foot deep concrete foundation. The roof was composed of 4 and a half inch cinder concrete. Most importantly, the roof featured a "paradigni" skylight formed of extra heavy ribbed glass coupled together with heavy copper. This skylight was 24 feet wide and ran the length of the building. The roof trusses alone required 80 tons of steel, their manufacture handled by the Charlottetown Foundry Company.
While residents of Charlottetown may remember this building as the C.N. Car Repair Shops, it is interesting to note that in the early years such facilities not only repaired rail cars, but built them as well. Though referencing an earlier facility, a 1905 newspaper article announced the inaugural run of a new snow plow built at the PEI Railway car shop. The snow plow had been "christened" Black Maria.
For some time after the closure of the Island's railway the old car shop was used by the Confederation Centre of the Arts as a storage and workshop facility. Throughout this period, the building slowly deteriorated, its huge arched windows covered over. Then in the late 1990s the building that had served an historic industry was pressed into the service of a modern one. The former car shop was to be redeveloped as Founders Hall, an interpretive centre focused on the 1864 confederation conference and the development of Canada. Work on Founders Hall was carried out through much of 2000 and 2001.
From the City of Charlottetown