Vancouver City Hall

Built in 1935 – 36 and designed by Fred Townley, Vancouver City Hall is one of the few city halls in Canada that is located outside of a city’s central business district. A building of Modern Classical style, City Hall shifted from its previous location at the corner of Main and Hastings in an effort to detach itself from the surrounding immigrant quarters. Its creation was also emblematic of Vancouver’s ambition to be a world-class city under direction of Mayor Gerry McGeer.

McGeer saw the construction of City Hall as a moral lift for Vancouverites who were experiencing hardship during the interwar period. He was confident that the new City Hall would provide jobs for unemployed women and amplify the celebration of Vancouver’s Golden Jubilee.

City Hall has received prominent world leaders in its 80 years, beginning with London Mayor Sir Percy Vincent who visited in 1936. King George, who visited in 1945, presented an oak tree that was planted on the southwest corner of the building. A tradition of welcoming British royals continued with the visit of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1986.

Today, the entrance is adorned with sculptures, titled Walking Figures by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, that were installed to commemorate the 2005-2007 Vancouver Biennale.

In 2019, City Hall renamed two locations to commemorate important figures in Vancouver’s history. The Town Hall Meeting Room on the first floor was renamed the Joe Wai Meeting Room after the prominent architect (1940-2017) who designed a number of important sites in Vancouver, including Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. The Japanese Garden on City Hall grounds was renamed Manzo Nagano Garden, after the first known Japanese immigrant to Canada who arrived in 1877.

Source

Historical Analysis of the Vancouver City Hall (Trevor D. Tupman, 1968), Vancouver City Hall (Paul King, 1988), A Brief History of Vancouver City Hall (Eve Lazarus, 2014), From Canvas to Concrete in Fifty Years (David Monteyne, 1999)

More information

http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/viewFile/1518/1561