Old City Hall (Ottawa) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The John G. Diefenbaker Building is a building in the New Edinburgh

New Edinburgh

New Edinburgh is a small neighbourhood in Ottawa, Canada. It is located to the east of the downtown core. It is bordered on the west by the Rideau River, to the north by the Ottawa River, to the south by Beechwood Avenue, to the east the border is less regular but is marked in part by Springfield...

neighbourhood of Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. The building served as Ottawa's city hall

City hall

In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...

from 1958 to 2000, and is commonly known as Old City Hall. Purchased in 2003 by the Government of Canada, it was known by its municipal address, 111 Sussex Drive, until September, 2011 when it was renamed after Canada's 13th prime minister, John Diefenbaker

John Diefenbaker

John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...

Construction

The building is located on Green Island

Green Island (Rideau River)

Green Island in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is an island at the end of the Rideau River, at the Rideau Falls at the confluence with the Ottawa River. It is situated in the neighbourhood of New Edinburgh....

at the point where the Rideau River

Rideau River

thumb|Rapids on the Rideau River opposite [[Carleton University]].The Rideau River is a Southern Ontario river which flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is 146 km...

empties into the Ottawa River

Ottawa River

The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...

. The historic city hall

Second City Hall (Ottawa)

Ottawa, Ontario's second city hall was built in 1877 on Elgin Street between Queen and Albert Streets and next to Ottawa's First City Hall.Built by architects Horsey and Sheard of Ottawa, the Second Empire French and Italian Style had one tall tower and three smaller ones...

on Elgin Street

Elgin Street (Ottawa)

Elgin Street is a street in the Golden Triangle of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Originally named Biddy's Lane, it was later named after Lord Elgin....

had been destroyed by a fire in 1931. For the next 27 years the city operated out of temporary offices in the Transportation Building

Transportation Building (Ottawa)

The Transportation Building in Ottawa, Canada is a historic Gothic revival/Chicago school office tower. The building stands at the intersection of Sussex Drive and Rideau Street. It was built by C. Jackson Booth, son of lumber baron J.R. Booth in 1916. It was across the street from Union...

. The International Style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

building was opened on August 2, 1958 by Princess Margaret as a member of the Canadian Royal Family. It is noted for being the first building in Ottawa to be fully air conditioned. It was designed by John Bland of the firm Rother, Bland and Trudeau and is considered one of the most important International Style buildings in Canada. Winning the Massey Medal for design in 1959, modifications were made by Moshe Safdie

Moshe Safdie

Moshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...

in 1992-93.

City hall expansion

In 1988 Ottawa mayor Jim Durrell

Jim Durrell

James A. Durrell is a former Mayor of Ottawa and former president of the Ottawa Senators hockey team. He now works as the owner of a car dealership. Durrell, an insurance executive, was elected to Ottawa City Council in 1980...

initiated a controversial scheme to expand the building, quadrupling its original size. Architect Moshe Safdie

Moshe Safdie

was chosen for the redesign. Conflict soon broke out between Safdie and the city. Safdie demanded a higher fee and delayed the project for several months before the city acquiesced to his demand. Then a conflict broke out over a pair of eighteen story observation towers. City council voted to cut the towers to save the million dollars they cost. This infuriated Safdie who felt the towers were essential to the design. The panel that picked the design had singled out the tower as one of the highlights of the design. Eventually the city compromised and a bare scaffold was erected.

The new building caused considerable controversy in the city with some liking the design, but others seeing the $72 million structure a waste of money. The building was much larger than the city needed and for several years large sections were vacant. In 1999 offices were rented out to the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is based nearby, and this mostly filled the building.

Federal government ownership

On January 1, 2001, a new single-tier City of Ottawa

City of Ottawa

The City of Ottawa is the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The corporation is responsible for provision of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws...

was created to replace the Regional Municipality of Ottawa Carleton. It was decided that the new city would be based at the RMOC Building

Ottawa City Hall

The current Ottawa City Hall is the city hall of Ottawa, Canada. The downtown complex consists of two connected buildings: a modern wing located on Laurier Avenue and a 19th century heritage wing located on Elgin Street...

. This building was considerably smaller but more centrally located. In 2003 the Old City Hall was sold to the federal Public Works department

Public Works and Government Services Canada

Public Works and Government Services Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for the government's internal servicing and administration....

. Today the building mainly houses Foreign Affairs employees. For several months it was also the site of the Gomery Inquiry hearings.

Construction

City hall expansion

Federal government ownership

See also