Edmonton City Hall

Edmonton City Hall

City Hall's main pyramid and fountain. To the left is a cenotaph; in the background is the CN Tower.
General information
Type City hall
Architectural style Postmodern
Location Edmonton, Alberta
Address 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Coordinates 53°32′44″N 113°29′24.5″W / 53.54556°N 113.490139°W / 53.54556; -113.490139
Construction started June 1990[1]
Opened August 28, 1992[2]
Cost $48.9 million[1]
($73.8 million in 2016 dollars[3])
Owner City of Edmonton
Height 43 m (141 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 3
Design and construction
Architect Dub Architects
Main contractor Stuart Olson Dominion[4]

Edmonton's 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 It was built to replace the former city hall after it had become outdated and expensive to operate.[5]

The Edmonton Transit System Customer Services centre relocated to City Hall in February 2013.[6]

Design

The building features two steel and glass pyramids, one 43 metres high (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.[7] The building also features a 200-foot clock Friendship Tower topped with a 23 carillon bells.[8] 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 pay tribute to 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.[9] Dub Architects then revised their design to replace the cones with the pyramids, with the pyramids designed to be evocative of the Rocky Mountains. The design was received much more warmly by the public, and was dubbed "Pyramid Power" by the press .

Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 Jimenez, Marina (August 24, 1992). "Civic pride swells at opening of city hall". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta. p. B1.
  2. ↑ McIntyre, Heather (August 27, 2012). "Edmonton's city hall turns 20". Metro Edmonton. Free Daily News Group. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada. "Consumer Price Index, historical summary". CANSIM, table (for fee) 326-0021 and Catalogue nos. 62-001-X, 62-010-X and 62-557-X. And Consumer Price Index, by province (monthly) (Canada) Last modified 2016-01-22. Retrieved March 2, 2016
  4. ↑ "Edmonton City Hall". Stuart Olson Dominion. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ Herzog, Lawrence (August 10, 2011). "Edmonton's 1957 City Hall". Herzog on Heritage. Edmonton Heritage Council. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  6. ↑ City of Edmonton (February 15, 2013). "ETS Customer Services Moves to City Hall". City of Edmonton. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Edmonton City Hall". CISC-ICCA. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Features of City Hall". City of Edmonton. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  9. ↑ Kent, Gordon (August 29, 2012). "'Our favourite building' puts on a party". Edmonton Journal. Canada.com. Retrieved June 28, 2014.

External links

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