the 1930s, for the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Agriculture, respectively. The latter building is now the main office of the lieutenant-governor. In 1985, the Parliament Building, along with several adjacent buildings and terrain, were declared a national historic site (), and as such taken away from the control of the provincial Ministry of Culture and Communications, and municipalities, to ensure operational independence. This was reaffirmed during changes to the law in 2011, though the term was changed to national heritage site (). In 2016-2019 a new entrance with enhanced security and additional space for parliamentary committees were built for $60.5 million. Exterior Overview The eight-storey Parliament building is symmetrical and is composed of three parts - two side wings each with a small tower, one consecrated to Samuel de Champlain, explorer and founder of Quebec, and the other to Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal; and a 52-metre-tower is placed between these two wings, which, in its turn, is named after Jacques Cartier, who made first contact between the French and what is now Canada. The concept of decorations as thought by Eugène-Étienne Taché was to show an open history of Quebec on the wall of parliament, including statues and the heraldry. Until 2019, the main entrance was the original one, which could be accessed through either staircase going around greenery and a fountain with the statues of Amerindians; since 2019, however, the parliament is mainly accessible through a modernized space going through underground passages to the parliament, and the greenery was removed. Statues The front wall of the parliament building has houses a total of 26 statues, which were ordered in 1886 and delivered in 1894 from Louis-Philippe Hébert and eight other sculptors, all from Paris. Two of the statues represent allegorical themes (Religion and Country and History and Poetry) and are located on either side of the tower; another two represent the indigenous people of Quebec (in this case, the Abenaki), while the rest honors important people in the history of Québec. Most of them are located in the niches in the National Assembly's wall. Samuel de Champlain's statue, as well as the History and Poetry allegorical statues are not shown here. In addition to that, several monuments to famous politicians are scattered on the front lawn of the parliament. Heraldry The Parliament has a total of 97 coats of arms, of which 87 are