Hamilton City Hall

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Hamilton City Hall.

Hamilton City Hall, was built and opened November 21, 1960, and is located in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It's an 8-story building, (34.0 metres), which stands on the corner of Main Street West and Bay Street South, across the street from Ronald V. Joyce Centre for the Performing Arts/ (Hamilton Place Theatre) and the Hamilton Art Gallery.

Currently the building is being renovated and City Hall services have temporarily been moved to the Hamilton City Centre, (formerly the Eaton's Centre), and will be there for at least a couple of years. ^[1]

It's address is 71 Main Street West. The street number was chosen carefully. Before the Hall was built a number buildings were torn down on the property. The city politicians of the day were told that they could choose any odd number between 55 and 105. The reason they choose 71 was because that was the number of years the old City Hall on James Street North was in use. ^[2]

The cost to renovate City Hall has ballooned to $68-million which has leading city councillors rethinking the project. Building a brand new City Hall has now become an option. Cost of a new building is estimated to be around $149-million and could see the City partner up with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and a third party. Other reasons for building a new City Hall include the fact that the current location is not big enough to meet the City's needs and staff are now scattered in leased space throughout the downtown. ^[3]

[edit] References

^ City Hall is being revitalized! (www.myhamilton.ca). Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
^ The Hamilton Spectator (Paul Wilson) (2007-01-29). Playing the numbers: Why is City Hall No. 71?. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
^ The Hamilton Spectator (Carmela Fragomeni) (2007-02-02). City Hall reno costs balloon to $68-million. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.