Arts & Culture

The news that Old City Hall may be converted into a civic history museum and library after the lease currently held by provincial and municipal courts ends in 2021 coincided with a presentation I recently gave to the Toronto In Literature Book Club, which had just finished the popular 2009 murder mystery Old City Hall by Robert Rotenberg. Rotenberg draws upon his personal experiences as a criminal defense lawyer and also makes good use of many iconic Toronto locations, one of which is, of course, Old City Hall.

Old City Hall – Robert Rotenberg (ebook) (e-audiobook) (Large Print)

After the book club's meeting, the group visited the Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre on the fifth floor of the Toronto Reference Library, where I had gathered a selection of historic Old City Hall photos housed here.

The above photo is from the opening ceremonies of Old City Hall in 1899. Architect E.J. Lennox (who also designed Casa Loma and over 70 other buildings in Toronto) can be seen front row, centre (#126). City council, angry about construction delays and cost overruns (the more things change…), refused Lennox a plaque proclaiming him as the architect; in response he had stonemasons “sign” his name in the corbels (a type of stone bracket) beneath the upper floor eaves around the entire building reading: "EJ LENNOX ARCHITECT AD 1898."

Many of the distinctive gargoyles carved into the side of Old City Hall are thought to be caricatures of Toronto politicians at the time, some more or less flattering than others. The lesson here is, don't mess with the architect designing your future headquarters.

When King George V visited Toronto in 1901, the arch pictured above was built for his procession to ride through on his way to a civic function at Old City Hall. It's too bad this wasn't a permanent addition, as riding through it would greatly enliven any trip up or down Bay Street.

Before New City Hall opened in 1965, Toronto City Council meetings were held in Old City Hall. In the above 1963 photo, a packed house listens as Mayor Donald Summerville outlines his new administration's plans; tragically, Summerville would pass away less than a year after this photo was taken when he suffered a fatal heart attack while playing in a charity hockey game at George Bell Arena.

Due to its prominent location and civic status, Old City Hall has long been the site of many events, including annual Remembrance Day ceremonies, protests and strikes, along with more lighthearted occasions like this 1963 Rotary Ice Revue performance where skaters did the Twist, a dance craze which was by then well into its third year since the release of Chubby Checker's smash hit version of the song. 

Many people have gotten hitched at Toronto's City Halls, New and Old, over the years. Here's rock star Burton Cummings of The Guess Who walking out with his new bride Cheryl DeLuca in 1981. They met two weeks before the nuptials and are still married 36 years later, which may be a more successful union than the average quickie City Hall wedding.

Speaking of rock stars, if you'd been getting married at Old City Hall one day in 1969 you might have spotted Jimi Hendrix waiting for his turn in court after he was arrested and charged with illegal possession of narcotics here in 1969 (he was acquitted).