Old City Hall

Old City Hall at 60 Queen St W in downtown Toronto, Ontario, is a Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by the architect E.J. Lennox and constructed between 1889 and 1899. It was Toronto's third city hall and also housed courts, and it faces Nathan Phillips Square and the modern New City Hall, which replaced it as the seat of city government in 1965. The building was nearly demolished in the 1960s, and public opposition led to its preservation; it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1989. It now serves as a courthouse run by the Ontario Court of Justice. Its most noticeable feature is a 103-metre clock tower, a landmark of the downtown skyline when built. The exterior is constructed from sandstone and brownstone and decorated with carved gargoyles and grotesques; the stone carvers, according to a well-known story, modelled some on city officials, and Lennox was reportedly dissatisfied with how much the project cost him and left a symbolic mark on the building. Inside, visitors who enter the public areas can see the soaring main stair hall, mosaic floors, stained glass and the ornate ironwork and plaster. Large stained-glass windows by the firm of Robert McCausland, a Toronto firm, depict civic and historical imagery. The building's restoration has included repairs to the tower and masonry, along with adaptation for modern court use, so access to rooms is limited to the public hallways and is subject to security screening. Because it functions as a court, there is no formal museum program; the interpretation is architectural and civic, and the experience is a self-guided look at the entrance hall and corridors. Old City Hall also contains a dramatic Great Hall hallway that was used in films. It remains one of the most important Victorian-era public buildings in Canada.