Hamilton City Hall

Hamilton City Hall is located in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is an 8-storey building (34.0 metres), located at the corner of Main Street West and Bay Street South, across the street from the Ronald V. Joyce Centre for the Performing Arts (Hamilton Place Theatre) and the Hamilton Art Gallery. It was officially opened November 21, 1960. This International style of architecture was designed by architect Stanley Roscoe. The construction job was done by the Pigott Construction Company and cost $9.4-million to build.

The building's address is "71 Main Street West". The street number was chosen carefully. A number of buildings at this site were torn down to make way for the new City Hall. The city politicians of the day were told that they could choose any odd number between 55 and 105. The reason they choose 71 was because that was the number of years the old City Hall on James Street North was in use. cite press release| title = Playing the numbers: Why is City Hall No. 71?| publisher =The Hamilton Spectator (Paul Wilson)| date =2007-01-29| accessdate = 2007-04-03]

At one point, before it was decided to erect this building, the City considered annexing the "Lister Block" for offices and connecting it to the old City hall via an enclosed walkway that would span James North one storey above the street.

In 2005, Hamilton City Council designated the building as a heritage structure. Among the listed heritage elements on the exterior are the Italian glass tile mosaics.

Renovation

The building is being renovated as of April 2007. City Hall services have temporarily been moved to the Hamilton City Centre (formerly Eaton's Centre), and will be there until at least 2009. cite web| title = City Hall is being revitalized! (www.myhamilton.ca)| url=http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/CityandGovernment/ProjectsInitiatives/CityHallRenovations/index.htm| accessdate = 2007-04-03]

The cost to renovate City Hall has ballooned to $68-million (as of April 2007), which has led city councillors to rethink the project. Building a brand new City Hall has now become an option. Cost of a new building is estimated to be around $149-million and could see the City partner up with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and a third party. Other reasons for building a new City Hall include the fact that the current location is not big enough to meet the City's needs and staff are now scattered in leased space throughout the downtown. cite press release| title = City Hall reno costs balloon to $68-million| publisher =The Hamilton Spectator (Carmela Fragomeni)| date =2007-02-02| accessdate = 2007-04-03]

ee also

*List of tallest buildings in Hamilton, Ontario

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References

External links

* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?c307 Hamilton Skyscraper page- diagrams]