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Old Posted Sep 4, 2019, 9:35 PM
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The Great Canadian City Halls And Government Buildings Thread

Post pics of government buildings, city halls, and pretty much any building owned by the government, provincial, national, or otherwise. For starters here’s the one that probably springs to mind when you think of my city.
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Old Posted Sep 4, 2019, 9:46 PM
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Old City Hall


Mowat Block
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Old Posted Sep 4, 2019, 9:52 PM
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Doesn’t this duplicate an existing thread?
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Old Posted Sep 4, 2019, 9:54 PM
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Doesn’t this duplicate an existing thread?
It does? I did not know that.
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Old Posted Sep 4, 2019, 10:26 PM
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Thankfully for Edmontonians, two of Alberta’s best government buildings reside here — the Beaux Arts Legislature Building and the Art Deco Federal Public Building. The histories of both are extremely fascinating.



The Legislature originally started life as a carbon copy of the British Columbia Parliament, before significant government mandated redesigns forced it into the very American looking building that stands today. Construction costs ballooned to more than double what was expected, and the project went through three major architects over its five year long build cycle.

Its full history can be found here for those interested.



Likewise, the Federal Public Building went through its own slew of challenges. Born out of R.B. Bennett’s Public Works Construction Act of 1934, it was furthered along by Mackenzie King’s government, until the war forced the end of the project before construction could start. In 1945 it was revived but sat in purgatory for another nine years as the City and Feds wrangled on just where to put it. Construction finally began in 1954 — its outdated Art Deco style stands as a testament to this.

Its full history can be found here for those interested.
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Old Posted Sep 4, 2019, 11:08 PM
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Love this new thread. Hope it catches on!
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 12:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kwoldtimer View Post
Doesn’t this duplicate an existing thread?
I think there's a thread about city halls. Can this be merged into that one and the title changed to Great Canadian City Halls and Government Buildings or something like that?
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 12:24 AM
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Allow my to photodump this thread with ~my own photos~.

Thunder Bay, post-renovation (2010)



Pre-renovation (2008)



Vancouver's:





St-Boniface (pre-Unicity):



Hamilton:



Kitchener:



Galt (left) and Cambridge (modern addition):





Not the best photo of it, but Guelph:



Government buildings? Click here. This one is my favourite:



But locally, this one is pretty cool:

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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 12:52 AM
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Quote:
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Allow my to photodump this thread with ~my own photos~.

Thunder Bay, post-renovation (2010)



Pre-renovation (2008)

I find this one pretty depressing, a nice piece of Modernism ruined.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 1:00 AM
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Thunder Bay wtf?! What a tragedy.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 1:10 AM
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I find this one pretty depressing, a nice piece of Modernism ruined.
Thunder Bays post renovation city hall looks like a bigger version of the disposable office block dreck you see everywhere .
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 1:25 AM
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Original vs post-renovation: Modern vs post-modern
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 1:49 AM
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The original one, however, was experiencing severe corrosion behind the concrete panels to the point that they were going to start falling off. It was also supposed to be built with the ability to support one or two extra floors being added on top over time, but in reality it wasn't. The company that was hired to build it in 1964 cut too many corners, and the whole renovation project ended up costing about double what they intended because they had to do more structural work than anticipated.

The previous Fort William city hall (seen here) had a similar flaw. It was built with bricks that weren't fired properly, and within 40 years of completion, the exterior of the building was collapsing. The tower was removed in the early 1940s because it couldn't support its own weight. There are a few buildings still standing built with the same kind of bricks, and you can tell because the brick is mostly gone but the mortar is still there.

But I agree, the original design was way better. They should have taken the same route Hamilton did with their city hall, but didn't.

I don't know for sure, but I do believe the granite panels from the ground floor of the original building were repurposed inside the building somewhere. The rest of the facade was just concrete blocks, there was no real value to them other than their shape.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 2:44 AM
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The original one, however, was experiencing severe corrosion behind the concrete panels to the point that they were going to start falling off. It was also supposed to be built with the ability to support one or two extra floors being added on top over time, but in reality it wasn't. The company that was hired to build it in 1964 cut too many corners, and the whole renovation project ended up costing about double what they intended because they had to do more structural work than anticipated.

The previous Fort William city hall (seen here) had a similar flaw. It was built with bricks that weren't fired properly, and within 40 years of completion, the exterior of the building was collapsing. The tower was removed in the early 1940s because it couldn't support its own weight. There are a few buildings still standing built with the same kind of bricks, and you can tell because the brick is mostly gone but the mortar is still there.

But I agree, the original design was way better. They should have taken the same route Hamilton did with their city hall, but didn't.

I don't know for sure, but I do believe the granite panels from the ground floor of the original building were repurposed inside the building somewhere. The rest of the facade was just concrete blocks, there was no real value to them other than their shape.
But their shape = architectural gesture. They should have been restored as such. It was a nice modern building.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 3:27 AM
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Yeah but this is Thunder Bay. The fact that they kept the city hall downtown and didn't just move it to an industrial building was a feat in itself.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 3:58 AM
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I actually think the renovated Thunder Bay city hall looks nicer.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 6:23 AM
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Agreed.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 11:01 AM
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I have always loved Kingston’s City Hall.


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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 12:30 PM
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The reno of the TBay city hall is a travesty, but yes, it's at least good they didn't put it out in Intercity.

Always loved Hamilton's modernist city hall.
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Old Posted Sep 5, 2019, 1:01 PM
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The reno of the TBay city hall is a travesty, but yes, it's at least good they didn't put it out in Intercity.

Always loved Hamilton's modernist city hall.
I used to not like Hamilton’s City Hall but it’s grown on me. It’s a lovely building.
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