Now, moving on to phase two of the visitor welcome centre, the concept of a below-grade visitor welcome centre has been around since at least 1976, and it has been supported by multiple governments, parliamentary committees, and been ingrained in the long-term vision and plan with a focus on security. This facility will also provide expanded business support for parliamentary operations and provide an enhanced visitor experience, and also connect the triad of Centre Block, West Block and East Block.
Similar to the chamber options outlined by my colleague Susan from the House of Commons, three options that are scalable and conform at various levels to parliamentary functional requirements have been developed to support a decision-making process, and will be adjusted based on feedback from parliamentarians. As previously stated, the two key decisions surrounding the visitor welcome centre are the size and the entry. I'm going to take you through the size options.
The site plans on the left of the slide you now see, going from top to bottom graphically, represent the visitor welcome centre size option.
Option one, the smallest option of approximately 5,800 square metres in size, provides a new screening point of entry, connects the triad, and provides some new parliamentary support. It limits the Library of Parliament's visitor experience to tour support only.
Option two, the medium-sized option, is approximately 13,500 square metres in size. In addition to the capabilities mentioned in option one, this option provides for increased parliamentary functions, including new committee rooms for the Senate, and provides a space for a curated alternate visitor experience in addition to the public tours.
Option three, the largest of the three options, is approximately 16,600 square metres in size and continues to enhance all the aforementioned parliamentary functions, and provides for an expanded alternative visitor experience. The right side of this slide depicts the various entry intervention points into the front lawn. In the case of the small and medium-sized visitor welcome centres, the entry point is located at the Vaux wall, and has little impact on the great lawn. In the case of the large visitor welcome centre, the entry point projects further into the great lawn.
I'll now pass the presentation to my colleague Susan who will take you through the specifics of entry options.