Edmonton City Hall

Edmonton City Hall
City Hall's main pyramid and fountain. To the left is a cenotaph; in the background are the CN Tower and Epcor Tower.
Map
General information
TypeCity hall
Architectural stylePostmodern
Address1 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, Alberta
T5J 2R7
Coordinates53°32′44″N 113°29′24.5″W / 53.54556°N 113.490139°W / 53.54556; -113.490139
Construction startedJune 1990[1]
OpenedAugust 28, 1992[3]
CostCA$48.9 million[1]
($91.5 million in 2023 dollars[2])
OwnerCity of Edmonton
Height43 m (141 ft)
Technical details
Floor count3
Design and construction
Architect(s)Dub Architects
Main contractorStuart Olson Dominion[4]
Awards and prizesAmerican Concrete Institute - 1993 Award for Excellence for Design and Construction[5]
Other information
Public transit accessEdmonton Transit System Light rail interchangeCapital LineMetro LineValley Line Churchill station

The Edmonton City Hall is the home of the municipal government of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Designed by Dub Architects, the building was completed in 1992. It was built to replace the former city hall designed by architects Kelvin Crawford Stanley and Maxwell Dewar in 1957, which had become outdated and expensive to operate.[6][7]

Design

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The building features two steel and glass pyramids, one 43 metres (141 ft) (ground to peak), on top of a three-storey concrete structure. One pyramid provides natural light for the main atrium, the other for the council chambers.[8] The building also features a 60-metre-high (200 ft) clock (Friendship Tower) topped with a set of 23-carillon bells.[9] Located on the eastern edge of the financial district in Edmonton's downtown, the building is the main feature on Sir Winston Churchill Square. In the winter, the fountain is converted to a skating rink.

The design for the city hall met with some controversy when it was first announced. The original design called for the building to be topped with four cones. The cones were meant to evoke the tipis that the First Nations once lived in on the site. The design met with negative feedback from the public as they felt it looked like dunce caps and nuclear reactors.[10] Dub Architects then revised their design to replace the cones with the pyramids, with the pyramids designed to be evocative of the Rocky Mountains and the Muttart Conservatory.

Temporary renaming

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The building was temporarily renamed the "Nathan Fillion Civilian Pavilion" for 24 hours in August 2021, for a debut of his most recent documentary.[11] Nathan Fillion was born in Edmonton in 1971.

Incidents

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A firebombs and shooting attack occurred inside Edmonton City Hall on January 23, 2024, causing an estimated $100,000 of property damages. No one was injured or killed.[12][13][14]

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  • City Hall interior
    City Hall interior
  • Council Chambers
    Council Chambers
  • A monument to the Ukrainian Famine in front of City Hall
    A monument to the Ukrainian Famine in front of City Hall

References

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  1. ^ a b Jimenez, Marina (August 24, 1992). "Civic pride swells at opening of city hall". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta. p. B1.
  2. ^ 1688 to 1923: Geloso, Vincent, A Price Index for Canada, 1688 to 1850 (December 6, 2016). Afterwards, Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021) "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021. and table 18-10-0004-13 "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  3. ^ McIntyre, Heather (August 27, 2012). "Edmonton's city hall turns 20". Metro Edmonton. Free Daily News Group. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  4. ^ "Edmonton City Hall". Stuart Olson Dominion. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  5. ^ "Dub Architects / Public Projects / Edmonton City Hall". dubarchitects.ca. 2013 Dub Architects Ltd. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  6. ^ Boddy, Trevor (2007). "Forward". Capital Modern: A Guide To Edmonton Architecture & Urban Design 1940-1969. Edmonton: Art Gallery of Alberta. pp. 32–33. ISBN 9780889501454.
  7. ^ Herzog, Lawrence (August 10, 2011). "Edmonton's 1957 City Hall". Herzog on Heritage. Edmonton Heritage Council. Archived from the original on June 29, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  8. ^ "Edmonton City Hall". CISC-ICCA. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  9. ^ "Features of City Hall". City of Edmonton. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  10. ^ Kent, Gordon (August 29, 2012). "'Our favourite building' puts on a party". Edmonton Journal. Canada.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  11. ^ Galvez, Conchita (2021-08-06). "City hall renamed 'Nathan Fillion Civilian Pavilion' for the weekend as Suicide Squad comes out". CTV News Edmonton. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  12. ^ Damage in Edmonton city hall attack estimated at $100K, meetings canceled next week, 26 January 2024.
  13. ^ ‘Heavily armed’ suspect acted alone in Edmonton City Hall shooting: police, 23 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Shots fired, Molotov cocktail thrown in Edmonton city hall, 1 arrested: police". Edmonton. 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
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