- Baltimore City Hall
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Baltimore City Hall 
General information Architectural style Second Empire style, a Baroque revival Location 100 Holliday Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202Town or city Baltimore, Maryland Country United States Coordinates 39°17′28″N 76°36′39″W / 39.291°N 76.61073°WCoordinates: 39°17′28″N 76°36′39″W / 39.291°N 76.61073°W Completed 1867-1875 Cost $2,271,135.64 Design and construction Client Mayor and City Council of Baltimore Architect George A. Frederick Baltimore City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Baltimore. City Hall houses the offices of the mayor and those of the Baltimore City Council. The building also hosts the city comptroller, some city departments and chambers of the Baltimore City Council. Situated on a city block bounded by Lexington Street on the North, Guilford Avenue on the West, Fayette Street on the South and War Memorial Plaza to the East, the six-story structure was designed by the 22-year old architect, George A. Frederick[1] in the Second Empire style, a Baroque revival, with prominent Mansard roofs with richly-framed dormers, and two floors of a repeating Serlian window motif over an urbanely rusticated basement. The building was officially dedicated on October 25, 1875.
Contents
History
The site for the "new" building was selected and some designs were submitted before the American Civil War. The cornerstone for the building, under Frederick's new design, was not laid until 1867; construction was completed eight years later. At a cost of more than $2 million, Baltimore City Hall is built largely of brick with the exterior walls faced with white marble. The marble alone, quarried in Baltimore, cost $957,000.[2] The segmented dome capping the building is the work of Baltimore engineer Wendel Bollman, known for his iron railroad bridges. At the time of its construction, the cast iron roof was considered one of the largest structures of its kind.[3]
Renovations
By the end of World War II, City Hall was showing signs of age and deterioration. The slate roof leaked, the exterior marble was eroding in places and the heating, cooling and electrical systems needed to be replaced. Even the cast iron dome's fastenings had rusted through and many plates were cracked. In 1959, 15 pounds of iron ornament came loose and plunged 150 feet into the Board of Estimates hearing room. In 1974 the city voted to renovate the old city hall rather than build a new one. Architectural Heritage Inc., in association with Meyers, D'Aleo and Patton Inc., local architects, were retained to begin the design. The ceremonial chambers were restored and the office space was doubled. In the process the dome was disassembled and put back together. Two years and 10.5[4] million dollars later the Mayor, the City Council and other city departments moved back into the building.[5] Usable space was increased almost twofold after the renovation, by fitting in two extra floors, by replacing dead storage space in the basement with offices, and by moving corridor walls to maximize office space.
In 2009, a building survey found that sections of the building's marble exterior were cracked and crumbling due to age. The city approved spending $483,000 for repairs to be made the same year.[6]
Incidents
The rotundaOn October 11, 1883, James F. Busey, a Democratic ward operative, was shot and killed outside of City Hall. The man who shot him, William T. Harig, was also a Democrat from another ward. The two got into a political argument and after some punches were thrown, both men drew their pistols and began firing at each other in rapid succession. Busey fired wildly; Harig did not, hitting Busey four times. Harig was taken into custody and charged with murder.[7]
Nearly 93 years later, Charles A. Hopkins stormed the temporary City Hall with a hand gun and killed a city councilman. On April 13, 1976, Hopkins, angered at his restaurant being shut down, killed Dominic Leone, a member of the Baltimore City Council. Hopkins also wounded another city councilman, a police officer and a mayoral aide during the shooting spree. Hopkins was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings but has spent most of his life since then at mental health facilities. In 2007, a Baltimore judge reduced his level of confinement.[8]
References
- ^ "Baltimore City Hall". Johns Hopkins University. Archived from the original on 2008-04-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20080414195956/http://www.ce.jhu.edu/mdcive/cityhall.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ^ City Hall: History of Construction and Dedication. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. 1878.
- ^ Dorsey, John; Dilts, James D. (1981). A Guide to Baltimore Architecture (Second ed.). Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishes. pp. 86–87. ISBN 0-87033-272-4.
- ^ "An Engineer's Guide To Baltimore". Johns Hopkins university. http://www.ce.jhu.edu/baltimorestructures/City%20Hall/city_hall.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-09.[dead link]
- ^ Baltimore City Hall, Holliday Street, Baltimore, Independent City, MD. Historic American Buildings Survey. Library of Congress. circa 1981. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hh:@FIELD(DOCID+@BAND(@lit(MD0957))). Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- ^ Linskey, Annie (May 21, 2009). "Things falling apart at Baltimore City Hall". The Baltimore Sun. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.cityhall21may21,0,4260198.story. Retrieved 2009-06-04.[dead link]
- ^ "Baltimore Shooting Affray: Ward Politicians Engage In Target Practice". the New York Times. 1883-10-12. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9503E3DF103BE033A25751C1A9669D94629FD7CF. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ^ "Baltimore judge reduces level of confinement for City Hall shooter". The Daily Record (Baltimore). 2007-08-13. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20070813/ai_n19468582. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
External links
Media related to Baltimore City Hall at Wikimedia Commons- Baltimore City Hall, Baltimore City, including photo from 1971, at Maryland Historical Trust
- Baltimore City Hall on Google Street View
- George A Frederick website
City of Baltimore Government 
Public service City life Professional sports U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Lists by county Allegany • Anne Arundel • Baltimore County • Calvert • Caroline • Carroll • Cecil • Charles • Dorchester • Frederick • Garrett • Harford • Howard • Kent • Montgomery • Prince George's • Queen Anne's • Somerset • St. Mary's • Talbot • Washington • Wicomico • Worcester
Lists by city Other lists Categories:- City and town halls in Maryland
- Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore, Maryland
- Buildings and structures completed in 1875
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