Vancouver City Hall

Vancouver City Hall is home to Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located at 453 West 12th Avenue, the building was ordered by the Vancouver Civic Building Committee, designed by architect Fred Townley and Matheson, and built by Carter, Halls, Aldinger and Company. The building has a twelve-storey tower (the point being 323 feet/98 metres above sea level) with a clock on the top.

Vancouver City Hall
Vancouver City Hall
General information
TypeCity hall
Architectural styleArt Deco
Address453 West 12th Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia
V5Y 1V4
Coordinates49°15′39″N 123°6′50″W
Construction started1935
Completed1936
InauguratedDecember 2, 1936
Cost$1 million[1]
OwnerCity of Vancouver
Height98 metres (322 ft)
Technical details
Floor count12
Design and construction
Architecture firmTownley & Matheson
Main contractorCarter-Halls-Aldinger Company

The building is served by the Broadway–City Hall station on SkyTrain's Canada Line.

History

Between 1897 and 1929, the Vancouver City Hall was located on Main Street, just south of the Carnegie Library; that building had previously served as a public market and an auditorium. In 1929, City Hall moved into the Holden Building (built 1911), while the Main Street building became an extension of the Carnegie Library.[2]

After being elected mayor in 1934, Gerry McGeer appointed a three-man committee to select the location for a new city hall; choices included the former Central School site at Victory Square, and Strathcona Park at the corner of Cambie Street and West 12th Avenue (no relation to the current park in the Strathcona neighbourhood). The panel recommended the Strathcona Park site, and City Council approved the selection in 1935, making Vancouver the first major Canadian city to locate its city hall outside its downtown.[3]

City Hall a month before opening

Construction of the new City Hall began in 1936 (Vancouver's Golden Jubilee) on January 3, and the first cornerstone was laid by McGeer on July 2. An eight-foot statue of Capt. George Vancouver, carved by Charles Marega, was placed at the front of the building. It was unveiled on August 20 by the visiting Lord Mayor of London, Sir Percy Vincent. Sir Percy also presented several gifts to the city, including a civic mace, and a sprig "...from a tree in the orchard where a falling apple gave Isaac Newton the idea that led to his theory of gravity." The mace and the statue still reside at city hall.

The building was started and opened all in the same year. Construction cost $1 million,[1] and was completed on December 1, bringing an end to the 330-day construction. Each lock plate on the outer doors displays the Vancouver Coat of Arms, and each door knob bears the monogram of the building. The ceiling on the second floor of the rotunda was made of gold leaf from several BC mines.

After winning the civic election on December 9, 1936, George Clark Miller became the first mayor of Vancouver to occupy the brand-new city hall on January 2, 1937.

A four-storey east wing was added in 1968[4] (completed in 1970) and in 2012 city staff gradually started moving out when a study found it would not withstand an earthquake.[5] In 1969 a coat of arms added and the original building was declared a Schedule A heritage building (i.e. of primary significance) in March 1976.[6]

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See also

References
  1. Learn about Vancouver City Hall
  2. The History of Metropolitan Vancouver - 1929 Chronology
  3. Berelowitz, Lance (2010). Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination. Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-1-55365-170-3.
  4. The History of Metropolitan Vancouver - 1968 Chronology
  5. "Vancouver City Hall's East Wing will come down gradually - NEWS 1130". NEWS 1130. 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  6. The History of Metropolitan Vancouver - 1976 Chronology
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