The NSR was taken over by the Government of Canada in 1867 as one of the terms of Confederation. In 1877, a new federal Crown corporation, the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), opened a magnificent new terminal railway station at the foot of North Street, south of Richmond and much closer to the city's downtown. This impressive Second Empire structure known as the North Street Station was designed by David Stirling, who also designed the Provincial Building and St. David's Presbyterian Church on Grafton Street. The station was faced by the King Edward Hotel, located immediately west of the station, which stood roughly beneath the present-day Angus L. Macdonald Bridge where it crosses Barrington Street opposite the main gate to HMC Dockyard. The North Street Station and the waterfront terminal trackage leading to it were badly damaged in the Halifax Explosion on 6 December 1917. Passenger trains were temporarily diverted to the unfinished south end terminal tracks for two days. However the North Street Station was quickly repaired to enable it to operate another two years before closing in 1920.