Construction began in 1960, funded jointly by all ten provincial governments and the federal government. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the centre on October 6, 1964, exactly one hundred years after the Charlottetown Conference that inspired it. The building was conceived as Canada's National Memorial to the Fathers of Confederation -- the politicians from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Province of Canada who gathered in the Confederation Chamber of Province House to discuss the union that became Canadian Confederation. The centre was placed immediately west of Province House, its Memorial Hall facing east toward the very room where those discussions took place. The symbolism is architectural and deliberate: the past and its commemoration stare directly at each other across a single city block.

At street level, the Confederation Centre appears to be three separate structures clustered around Memorial Hall, bounded by Grafton, Queen, and Richmond Streets in Charlottetown's central business district. It is, in fact, one contiguous building -- a characteristic of its Brutalist design that prioritizes mass and function over the kind of visual fragmentation that might make a building this size feel lighter. Inside, the spaces divide into distinct purposes. The art gallery pavilion occupies the northeast, a three-storey structure with over 3,250 square metres of exhibition space and a permanent collection that has grown to more than 17,000 works. The performing arts side includes the 1,109-seat Homburg Theatre, the largest mainstage in Canada east of Montreal, along with two studio theatres for more intimate productions.

Since 1965, the Charlottetown Festival has filled summer evenings at the centre with music, drama, and the particular energy of a city that knows its historical moment. Anne of Green Gables -- The Musical anchored the festival for decades, but hundreds of other productions have passed through the centre's stages. The festival was interrupted only once, in 2020, when the global COVID-19 pandemic silenced theatres everywhere. In 2011, the mainstage Homburg Theatre underwent a 17-million-dollar renovation, improving acoustics, seating, lighting, and rigging -- work completed in time for the centre's 50th anniversary in 2014. The centre was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2003, recognizing not just its architecture but its sustained role as a living memorial.

Unlike many cultural institutions that depend primarily on government funding, the Confederation Centre generates 65 percent of its operating budget through ticket sales, memberships, donations, and sponsorships. Canadian Heritage provides 25 percent, the Province of Prince Edward Island contributes 6 percent, and other granting bodies cover the remaining 4 percent. This mix of self-reliance and public support reflects the centre's dual identity as both national monument and working arts venue. It is not a shrine to a single historical moment, preserved under glass. It is a building that fills its seats, hangs new art on its walls, and stages performances that draw audiences from across the Maritimes and beyond -- a memorial that stays alive by doing what memorials rarely do: looking forward.