One of Toronto's most iconic landmarks
celebrated a “birthday” last week. It was on September 18th,
back in 1899, that our “Old” City Hall opened, on Queen Street at
Bay Street. It's long since been surpassed in height by the soaring
skyscrapers that have cropped up downtown, but our 1899 City Hall
still soars with distinction over Bay Street. It was Toronto's last
great architectural project of the Victorian age, and despite being
threatened by demolition over the years, it gave proud service as the
centre of Toronto over several decades in the twentieth century.
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| THEN : "Old" City Hall circa 1900, when it was still new. |
The building was, of course, the child
of Toronto's famed architect, Edward James Lennox. Lennox would
later give Toronto the King Edward Hotel and Casa Loma, along with a
number of other buildings, but it was his work on our City Hall that
would help Toronto ring in a new century. What finer work for an
architect to set his mark on a city than to construct the home of
municipal government, that would surely also serve as a gathering
spot for its residents? But, the construction of the new city hall
building would not be completed without difficulty.
Planning for the new building had begun
during the final years of the 1880s, and originally, the building was
just going to serve as a County Courthouse. By 1887, though, the
initial budget of $300,000 was running short. So, a new lot of funds
totalling $750,000 was granted, and the decision was made to also
make it the new City Hall for Toronto. Within two years, that money
was nearly gone, too, and in 1889, a further $600,000 was approved.
By the time that the building was completed, the cost would hit the
$2 million mark. There was plenty of animosity between Lennox and
the city officials over the soaring cost of the building.
When the building was complete, it
became evident that Lennox had taken his revenge, in a notorious bit
of Toronto design. There are a number of faces carved into the
pillars at the top of the main stairs of the building, which lead up
from Queen Street. They are all, save one, comically grotesque
figures, with exaggerated features, bulging eyes, and protruding
tongues. It's said that Lennox had each one of these designed to
represent one of the municipal officials who gave him a hard time.
The one exception was a “self portrait” of Edward James Lennox,
and was put in place to make him seem like the only respectable or
intelligent figure when set amongst those who governed over us more
than a century ago.
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| NOW : With the opening of the 1899 City Hall, architect Edward James Lennox immortalized himself, in more ways than one. His image graces the columns near the main entrance to City Hall. He is seen here, at the top centre. |
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| NOW : The esteem in which Lennox held those city officials with whom he worked has been immortalized, too. It's said that each one of these grotesque faces represents a city official who pestered Lennox about when the grand new municipal headquarters would finally be completed. |
It was also custom at the time for an
architect to be allowed to carve his name in such an elaborate work,
but because of the anger that city officials felt towards Lennox,
they denied him that privilege. He went ahead and put his name on
the building, anyway. Around all four sides of the building, hidden
amongst all the elaborate designs and carvings, runs the legend
“Edward James Lennox, Architect”. The letters are spread out
around the entire building, and can be hard to make out, but they're
there, and Lennox had his architectural legacy.
Referring to the building as “Old
City Hall” is actually something of a misnomer. When Toronto was
incorporated as a city in 1834, the early city council met in rented
facilities on top of a former St. Lawrence Market building, on the
southwest corner of King and Jarvis streets. In 1845, a new addition
to the market was completed on the south side of Front Street, and
the first purpose built City Hall was constructed on top of it. When
the Queen Street City Hall opened up in 1899, this area above the
market was abandoned, and left closed to the public for more than
seventy years, until it reopened as a museum and gallery space.
Known today as the Market Gallery, it holds about three different
exhibitions each year, on the various cultural, historical and
artistic artifacts that are held within Toronto's archives. The
Market Gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 o'clock in
the morning to 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and admission is free,
though donations to the work of the gallery are kindly accepted.
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| THEN : The reception room of the Mayor's Office in the really old City Hall, 1898. |
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| THEN : The council chamber of the real "Old City Hall" in 1898. This city hall was above the south St. Lawrence Market from 1845 until 1899. It survives today as the Market Gallery, an exhibition place for Toronto's art, history and culture. |
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| THEN : City council meets above St. Lawrence Market in 1899. The next council would meet in the new City Hall building. In this photograph, no one seems to be paying particular attention to Mayor Clarke. |
Mayor E.F. Clarke had laid the
cornerstone for the building on November 21, 1891, and almost eight
years later, in September of 1899, the official opening ceremony
began at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Mayor Shaw unlocked the main
door with a golden key. Martial bands from the Governor General's
Body Guards, the 48th Highlanders, the Royal Grenadiers,
and the Queen's Own Rifles played from noon until 10 o'clock at
night. One bit of accompanying music was not ready yet. The bells
at the top of City Hall had yet to be installed, and now would be
rung for the
first time until December 31, 1899.
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| THEN : The opening ceremonies of the 1899 City Hall, September 18th, 1899. |
The building served as Toronto's city
hall until the “New City Hall” was completed next door in the
mid-1960s. The 1960s were a time when thousands of our older
buildings were disappearing, and being destroyed in favour of great
slabs of concrete. In the years between the construction of this new
city hall, and the opening and expansion of the Eaton Centre through
the 1970s, there were calls to demolish our 1899 city hall.
Fortunately, it was saved, and in 1984 the building was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada.
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| THEN : Bay Street looking north to City Hall in 1924. |
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| THEN : View of City Hall from Elizabeth Street, 1924. |
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| THEN : City Council, 1915. |
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| THEN : City Council chamber. |
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| THEN : During the First World War, City Hall was often home to assemblies and displays that tried to shore up patriotism and support for the war effort. Here, an early tank is put on display for curious Torontonians. |
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| THEN : Torontonians get a taste of trench warfare outside City Hall. |
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| THEN : A spontaneous rally outside City Hall to celebrate the end of the Great War. |
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| THEN : City Hall lobby, 1936. |
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It's nearly that time of the year again
... Old City Hall is a stop on our “Haunted Streets of Downtown
Toronto” tour. Beginning Friday, October 4th, we will
be running ghost tours each and every night, seven nights a week,
straight through until Thursday, October 31st.
In those four weeks, we'll have the
Haunted Streets of Downtown Toronto every night at 7 o'clock, and the
Ghosts of the University of Toronto tour every night at 10 o'clock.
On Friday, October 25th, Saturday, October 26th
and Thursday, October 31st, we will also have the Ghosts
of the University of Toronto tour at midnight. Additionally, for a
few nights near the end of October, our final stop on the Haunted
Streets of Downtown Toronto tour – Mackenzie House Museum – will
be briefly open to visitors to let them have a look inside.
