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In 1846 an act was passed authorizing the construction of a Colonial Building as a permanent home. It took another ten years to agree on the site of the new building and construction to start. On May 24th, 1847 the corner-stone was laid by the Governor, Major-General Sir John G. Lemarchant.
Due to the late arrival of materials the building was not completed by the architect, James Purcell, until 1850 at a cost of 18,335 pounds.
The official opening of the Colonial Building took place on January 28th, 1850. At which time, Governor Lemarchant opened the second session of the House's fourth general assembly with the appropriate pomp and ceremony. At the time of its completion, the Colonial Building was the most impressive example of fine architecture in Newfoundland. Constructed of white limestone specially imported from Cork in Ireland, its neoclassical facade features a massive portico consisting of six ionic columns supporting an entablatured triangular pediment. The pediment is decorated with the 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 pilasters, fully entablulated and elaborately ornamented. The adjacent visitor's galleries are finished in the same style. the decoration of the building was further enhanced in 1880-1 by a Polish fresco painter, Alexander Pindikowski, then serving a 15 month prison sentence for forgery. The painter received a one month reduction in his sentence for the work he completed at the Colonial Building and Government House.
After its opening in 1850, the colonial Building became the focus of important social and political events. Public balls were held to celebrate the laying of the transatlantic cable, the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1860 and Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1887 to name a few. on these occasions the building, decorated with flags, ferns and flowers, was transformed into an elegant arena for dining, dancing and public celebrations. On occasion the building was also used as an exhibition centre: on January 19th, 1867, there was a grand display in the Council chamber of items to be shown at the international Paris Exhibition later that year.
As the seat of government in the period 1850-1960, the Colonial building was scene of many of the, often turbulent, events in Newfoundland's modern political history. It witnessed the advent of responsible government in 1855, the inauguration of the Commission of Government in 1934, the National Convention of 1946-1948 and Newfoundland's Confederation with Canada in 1949.
It was also the site of a number of political riots and disturbances, the most destructive of which occurred on April 5th, 1932. On that occasion, a large mob protesting the maladministration and corruption in government became violent. All the windows were broken, doors smashed and furniture destroyed, the total of which cost $10,000.00 to repair.
On July 28th, 1959, the provincial legislature held its last working session in the building before moving to the newly completed Confederation Building on Prince Phillip parkway. In 1974, the Colonial Building was declared a Provincial Historic Site.
Since 1960, the building has been the home of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, which possesses an extensive collection of public and private records relating to the province's history. The collection includes, maps, photographs, cine films, audio tapes, books, magazines and newspapers together with microfilm copies of historic records of Newfoundland origin held by other institutions around the world.
The increasing interest in family and local history has meant that the Provincial Archives provides services to many genealogists and local historians. The Archives boasts a substantial collection of church records and vital statistics registers and regularly endeavour to increase these collections.
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