National Historic Site of Canada
Which site was the heritage designation of Stratford City Hall in Feb 1980?
Stratford City Hall Stratford City Hall is the city hall of Stratford , Ontario , and a National Historic Site of Canada . It sits amidst the citys business district , on a triangular town square . 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 . The stipulation imposed by Donald McDonald for the sale was the development of a market on the land , so the buildings ground floor was allocated for business market stalls . The Neoclassical building consisted of two floors topped by a cupola and bell tower . 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 . These stores had cellars , and in 1864 one housed a brewery . Behind them were a police station and a fire department ; the latter moved to another location in 1893 . 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 . A night constable making his rounds in the early morning of 24 November 1897 discovered a fire . He released the prisoners from their cells and raised the fire alarm . The fire was exacerbated by the ignition of gas in a custodial room , and it eventually destroyed the building . New City Hall . The city held two design competitions for a new city hall . 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 . The town held a referendum to determine the final design , which was awarded to King and his associate John Wilson Siddall . They hired local contractors Edmund Cawsey and John Lant Young to erect the building . On 2 November 1898 , the foundation stone was installed , and in 1900 the building was opened . It is located on a triangular town square . In March 2016 , the city held an open house displaying three proposals to redevelop the land behind the building . The committee selected a proposal by GSP Group , which was approved later at the end of March , and construction began in December 2016 . Structure . Built in the Jacobean end of the Queen Anne Revival style , the building exhibits an eclectic combination of features , including gables in Flemish Renaissance style , a classical cupola , and panelled chimneys . Each end of the building has a dodecagonal base , the central portion a hexagon , and the clock tower a circle . A restoration completed in 1974 updated the auditorium and increased office space . The exterior brickwork is a dark red , and was the third choice for the building . The architects had planned on using a buff-coloured brick , and city councillors preferred the pale colour of the original town hall . The red was chosen after a local brickyard over-fired its white bricks . The trim is in sandstone , and the large plinth is limestone . The main entrance is flanked by two terracotta seals , one depicting a train symbolizing industry , and the other depicting a beehive symbolizing enterprise , mounted in pilasters . Above the door is a semi-circular arch window framed by a banded voussoir . National Historic Site . The building was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada on 6 November 1976 , and in 1982 , it was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act . Legacy . The building was used on the cover of a book about Canadian town halls published by Parks Canada . It was described by architect Robert Fairfield , who designed the Stratford Festival Theatre , as a splendid municipal building . A proposal to demolish the building and replace it with a ten-storey hotel surmounted by a revolving restaurant was made by the citys mayor C.H . Meier in 1967 . 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 . By 1972 , the plans for the hotel were withdrawn . Some members of Save the City Hall League would go on to form Heritage Stratford , the citys heritage committee . In 2015 , a local filmmaker proposed upgrading the auditorium for use as a digital art cinema .