Windsor City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The mayor's office and Windsor City Council are housed in the main building at 350 City Hall Square West, while additional city services are located in an adjacent building at 400 City Square East in downtown Windsor.

Windsor City Hall
Main building of Windsor City Hall
Map
General information
TypeCity hall
Address350 City Hall Square West
Windsor, Ontario
N9A 6S1
Coordinates42°19′0.31″N 83°02′06.3″W / 42.3167528°N 83.035083°W / 42.3167528; -83.035083
Groundbreaking2016
Completed2018
CostCA$30 million
OwnerCity of Windsor
Technical details
Floor count5
Design and construction
Architecture firm
  • Moriyama & Teshima Architects
  • Archittectura Inc.

History

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The site of the hall was previously Central Public School, thereafter the city purchased the property in 1904 and served it as the city hall. In 1955, construction began on a new building that was completed in 1956 at a cost of $2.1 million.[1][2] In 2005, an additional structure of the Windsor City Hall campus opened across the street from the main building, at 400 City Hall Square.[3] The second building now houses agencies of the municipal, provincial and federal governments to provide residents several public services at a single location.[4]

Issues began to appear in the 1957-era building in the early 1990s with water infiltration, heating system failures, inadequate space and foul odors plaguing building occupants.[5] In addition, any renovations would need to address asbestos insulation throughout the building and accessibility issues bringing estimated costs to approximately $20 million versus $34 million for a new facility. A new building was a topic during the 2014 budget meeting in 2013.[6] In the meeting, the council voted 10 to 1 in favour of a new building.[7] In October 2014, the Windsor City Council approved plans to demolish the current city hall and construct a new facility.[8]

 
Old City Hall, demolished in 2019

Construction of the new building was scheduled to start late 2015 with completion expected in 2017-2018, but was delayed until mid-2016.[6][8][9] The project was estimated to cost CA$23 million.[10] The new city hall opened to the public on May 22, 2018.[11] The grand opening took place on May 26, 2018.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "City Hall Campuses". City of Windsor. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  2. ^ Jarvis, Anne (20 April 2014). "Jarvis: A burnished civic square". Windsor Star. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  3. ^ Schmidt, Doug. "City pursues deposit on building it can't sell". Windsor Star. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Governments come together to better serve the community of Windsor" (Press release). Government of Ontario. 21 August 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  5. ^ Schmidt, Doug (12 July 2019). "Windsor's old city hall only few bricks away from becoming history". Windsor Star. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  6. ^ a b Schmidt, Doug (11 November 2013). "New City Hall on the horizon". Windsor Star. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  7. ^ "New $35M city hall approved, to be built by 2017". CBC News. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2022 – via Yahoo! News.
  8. ^ a b "Council approves new Windsor city hall design". CTV News Windsor. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Updated Milestones - August 2016" (PDF). City of Windsor. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  10. ^ "$23M Windsor City Hall design to be voted on by public". CBC News. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  11. ^ "New Windsor City Hall set to open next week". CTV News Windsor. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  12. ^ McArthur, Donald (27 May 2018). "Big crowd gathers for grand opening of new Windsor City Hall". Windsor Star. Retrieved 31 May 2018.