Stratford City Hall

Last updated
Stratford City Hall
Stratford City Hall view from front garden.jpg
Stratford City Hall
General information
Type City hall
Architectural style Jacobean/Queen Anne Revival
Town or city Stratford, Ontario
CountryCanada
Coordinates 43°22′11.9274″N80°58′55.9554″W / 43.369979833°N 80.982209833°W / 43.369979833; -80.982209833 Coordinates: 43°22′11.9274″N80°58′55.9554″W / 43.369979833°N 80.982209833°W / 43.369979833; -80.982209833
Design and construction
ArchitectGeorge W. King, John Wilson Siddall
Official nameStratford City Hall National Historic Site of Canada
Designated6 November 1976

Stratford City Hall is the city hall of Stratford, Ontario, and a National Historic Site of Canada. It sits amidst the city's business district, on a triangular town square.

Contents

The original town hall was built in 1856 and incorporated space for market stalls and other stores, in addition to providing space for a concert hall, police station, fire department, and council chambers. The building was destroyed by fire in 1897.

A competition was held for the design of a new city hall, with two winners announced, one incorporating the remains of the previous structure, one for a wholly new building. The latter was selected, and was completed in 1900. The building was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976.

First town hall

In 1856, the village of Stratford began building a town hall at the tip of a property it had purchased. [1] The stipulation imposed by Donald McDonald for the sale was the development of a market on the land, so the building's ground floor was allocated for business market stalls. [1]

The Neoclassical building consisted of two floors topped by a cupola and bell tower. [1] The ground floor had market stalls at the rear, and four stores at the front with a central entrance opening to a stairway leading to the upper floor. [1] These stores had cellars, and in 1864 one housed a brewery. [1] Behind them were a police station and a fire department; the latter moved to another location in 1893. [1] Above the market stalls was a concert hall, and the upper floor of the front of the building housed the council chamber and municipal offices. [1]

A night constable making his rounds in the early morning of 24 November 1897 discovered a fire. [1] He released the prisoners from their cells and raised the fire alarm. [1] The fire was exacerbated by the ignition of gas in a custodial room, and it eventually destroyed the building. [1]

New City Hall

The city held two design competitions for a new city hall. [1] The competition reusing the remains of the older structure was won by Alexander Hepburn, a local architect, and the design for a new building was won by George W. King of Toronto. [1] The town held a referendum to determine the final design, which was awarded to King and his associate John Wilson Siddall. [1] [2] They hired local contractors Edmund Cawsey and John Lant Young to erect the building. [3] On 2 November 1898, the foundation stone was installed, [1] and in 1900 the building was opened. [3] It is located on a triangular town square. [4]

In March 2016, the city held an open house displaying three proposals to redevelop the land behind the building. [5] The committee selected a proposal by GSP Group, which was approved later at the end of March, and construction began in December 2016. [6]

Structure

New city hall in 2015 Stratford City Hall, Downtown Stratford, Ontario (21849036371).jpg
New city hall in 2015

Built in the "Jacobean end" of the Queen Anne Revival style, [2] the building exhibits an eclectic combination of features, including gables in Flemish Renaissance style, a classical cupola, and panelled chimneys. [1] Each end of the building has a dodecagonal base, the central portion a hexagon, and the clock tower a circle. [1] A restoration completed in 1974 updated the auditorium and increased office space. [1]

The exterior brickwork is a dark red, and was the third choice for the building. [2] The architects had planned on using a buff-coloured brick, and city councillors preferred the pale colour of the original town hall. [2] The red was chosen after a local brickyard over-fired its white bricks. [2] The trim is in sandstone, and the large plinth is limestone. [3]

The main entrance is flanked by two terracotta seals, one depicting a train symbolizing industry, and the other depicting a beehive symbolizing enterprise, [2] mounted in pilasters. [3] Above the door is a semi-circular arch window framed by a banded voussoir. [3]

National Historic Site

The building was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada on 6 November 1976, [4] and in 1982, it was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act . [1]

Legacy

The building was used on the cover of a book about Canadian town halls published by Parks Canada. [1] It was described by architect Robert Fairfield, who designed the Stratford Festival Theatre, [7] as a "splendid municipal building". [8]

A proposal to demolish the building and replace it with a ten-storey hotel surmounted by a revolving restaurant was made by the city's mayor C.H. Meier in 1967. [9] City council agreed to demolish the building in 1969, but received a petition from the newly formed "Save the City Hall League" to retain it. [10] By 1972, the plans for the hotel were withdrawn. [10] Some members of "Save the City Hall League" would go on to form Heritage Stratford, the city's heritage committee. [10]

In 2015, a local filmmaker proposed upgrading the auditorium for use as a digital art cinema. [11]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Bart-Riedstra & Riedstra.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ashenburg 2012, 28: City Hall, Wellington and Downie Streets, 1899.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ontario Heritage Trust.
  4. 1 2 Canadian Register of Historic Places.
  5. ↑ Beitz 2016.
  6. ↑ Beitz 2017.
  7. ↑ Blumenson 2005.
  8. ↑ Rae 2015, p. 393.
  9. ↑ Stacey 2014, chapter 5.
  10. 1 2 3 Bart-Riedstra & Riedstra 1999, p. 52.
  11. ↑ Rice 2015.

Related Research Articles

Stratford, Ontario City in Ontario, Canada

Stratford is a city on the Avon River within Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2016 population of 31,465 in a land area of 28.28 square kilometres (10.92 sq mi). Stratford is the seat of Perth County, which was settled by English, Irish, Scottish and German immigrants, in almost equal numbers, starting in the 1820s but primarily in the 1830s and 1840s. Most became farmers; even today, the area around Stratford is known for mixed farming, dairying and hog production.

Stratford Festival

The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, the Shakespeare Festival and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. The festival was one of the first arts festivals in Canada and continues to be one of its most prominent. It is recognized worldwide for its productions of Shakespearean plays.

ByWard Market

The ByWard Market, is a retail and entertainment district in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located east of the government and business district. The Market district includes the market buildings and open-air market along George, York, ByWard, and William street.

Port Stanley, Ontario

Port Stanley is a community in the Municipality of Central Elgin, Elgin County in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of Kettle Creek. In 2016, it had a population of 2,148.

Edinburgh Square is a public space and historic site in Caledonia, Ontario. It includes a War Memorial, and lawn bowling and baseball fields. The Old Town Hall of Caledonia is located on the square.

St. Lawrence Hall

St. Lawrence Hall is a meeting hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the corner of King Street East and Jarvis Street. It was created to be Toronto's public meeting hall home to public gatherings, concerts, and exhibitions. Its main feature was a thousand-seat amphitheatre. For decades the hall was the centre of Toronto's social life before larger venues took over much of this business. Today the hall continues as a venue for events including weddings, conferences, and art shows.

Raffi Armenian, is a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher. He directed the Kitchener–Waterloo Symphony orchestra for many years. Since 1999 he has been the director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Toronto. From 2008 to 2013 he was the director of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.

Leeds Kirkgate Market

Kirkgate Market is a market complex on Vicar Lane in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest covered market in Europe and a Grade I listed building. There are currently 800 stalls which attract over 100,000 visitors a week.

Egmondville is an unincorporated rural community in Huron East, Huron County, Ontario, Canada.

St. Andrew's Playground is a small park in downtown Toronto. It is located at the 450 Adelaide Street West, at the northwest corner of Brant St and Adelaide. It has a playground for children and an off-leash area for dogs that is surrounded by a short fence, with an accessible water fountain for pets, children, and adults. A Heritage Toronto plaque in the northwest corner describing the history and significance of the park was installed in 2007.

St. Lawrence Market

St. Lawrence Market is a major public market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Front Street East and Jarvis Street in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The public market is made up of two sites adjacent to one another west of Jarvis Street, St. Lawrence Market North, and St. Lawrence Market South. St. Lawrence Market South is situated south of Front Street East, and is bounded by The Esplanade to the south. St. Lawrence Market North is situated north of Front Street East, and is bounded by St. Lawrence Hall to the north.

University of Waterloo Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business Satellite campus of the University of Waterloo

The Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, also known as the University of Waterloo Stratford School and formerly the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, is a satellite campus of the University of Waterloo located in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

Kingston City Hall (Ontario) City hall

Kingston City Hall is the seat of local government in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Occupying a full city block facing Lake Ontario in Kingston's downtown, the city hall is a prominent building constructed in the Neoclassical style with a landmark tholobate and dome.

Bolton Market Hall

Bolton Market Hall is a listed building in Bolton, Greater Manchester that is now the Market Place Shopping Centre. The market hall and its integral ground-floor shops on Bridge Street, Corporation Street and Knowsley Street are included in the English Heritage listing.

Orillia Opera House

Orillia Opera House is a historic building home to a local opera company in the city of Orillia, Ontario, Canada.

Horticulture Building (Toronto)

The Horticulture Building, which houses the Toronto Event Centre, is a heritage building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, containing event and conference space. It was built in 1907 for the display of horticulture during the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), and it is a listed heritage building.

Old Town Hall and Market Hall, Darlington Municipal building in Darlington, County Durham, England

The Old Town Hall and Market Hall is a municipal complex in West Row in Darlington, County Durham, England. The old town hall was the headquarters of Darlington Borough Council until it moved to the new town hall in Feethams in 1970. The complex consists of three separate buildings, all of which are Grade II listed: the old town hall, the market hall and the clock tower.

The Stratford General Strike of 1933 was a strike by 650 furniture workers and 100 chicken-pluckers in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The strikes were led by workers from recently unionized factories in the Stratford area with the purpose of securing higher wages. It also represented the final time the Canadian military was called to assist in quelling a strike.

Doncaster Market Market in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England

Doncaster Market lies in the centre of the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England.

Crewkerne Town Hall Municipal building in Crewkerne, Somerset, England

Crewkerne Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Square in Crewkerne, Somerset, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Crewkerne Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

References

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.