Old City Hall (Toronto)
Toronto's Old City Hall was home to city council from 1899 to 1966 and remains one of the city's most prominent structures. It is at the corner of Queen and Bay Streets, opposite the new City Hall in the centre of downtown Toronto. It has a distinctive clock tower which can be seen the whole length of Bay Street from Front to Queen.
Work on the Romanesque Revival building designed by E.J. Lennox began in 1889. Lennox "signed" his name in scrollwork around the first floor exterior. When it opened on September 18, 1899 it was the largest building in Toronto, and the largest municipal building in North America.
Toronto City Council moved to the new city hall in 1965, and soon after plans were made to start construction of the Eaton Centre. The original plans called for old City Hall to be knocked down and replaced by a number of skyscrapers, leaving only the cenotaph (or in one plan, the clock tower) in the front. Public outcry forced authorities to abandon these plans, and today the building is the home of the municipal courts.
An annex to this building, Manning Chambers, was demolished to make way for the current Toronto City Hall.
At the foot of the front steps on Queen Street is the Cenotaph, erected to honour the dead from World War I and World War II during Rememberance Day cermonies every November 11.
The building is sometimes used to film movies and television shows, such as This is Wonderland.
See also
- Toronto City Hall - current city hall
- St. Lawrence Market - home of first city hall
