Mississauga Civic Centre - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Mississauga Civic Centre is 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...

of the city of Mississauga, 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....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The 37280 square metre complex is a prominent example of Postmodern architecture

Postmodern architecture

Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...

in Canada, finished in 1987 by Jones and Kirkland. It stands at 92 metres or 302 feet. The design was influenced by farmsteads which once occupied much of Mississauga as well as historical features of city centres. The building, for instance, includes a prominent clock tower. It was chosen as the winner of a design competition that included 246 submissions. Mississauga Civic Centre is located near Square One Shopping Centre

Square One Shopping Centre

Square One Shopping Centre is a shopping mall located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest shopping malls in Canada, with over 1.6 million square feet of retail space and more than 360 stores and services...

and is home to the City Council of Mississauga.

History

Mississauga Civic Centre is the second home for City Hall and third home of local government.

Cooksville Town Hall was built at Lot 16, Concession 1 SDS around 1870 and was built as single storey brick school house. It later housed Cooksville Public School from 1919 to 1921.

In 1953 Township of Toronto Municipal Building at 100 Dundas Street West (Coronation Square Building) was built next to the old town hall. The old town hall structure became the east wing of the Toronto Township Municipal Building. It was designed by architect Gordon Adamson, who built International style buildings. After the 1969 fire that gut the east wing, the Township offices were relocated once the 1 City Centre Drive was made available from developers of Square One.

The 1950s municipal building became home to the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board and Sheridan College. Abandoned, the structure was demolished in 1970.

The Township of Mississauga moved to 1 City Centre Drive near Burnhamthorpe and Hurontario in 1971. It along with Square One was located on the old Robert Norman Carr farm. Built as a 5 floor office building, it was converted as a civic centre in 1971. In 1974 it became City Hall and remained so until 1984. Convered to offices by the city, it was demolished in 1988 to give way to the current glass office tower at the site.

The new design by Jones and Kirkland was chosen in September 1982 an architectural design competition

Architectural design competition

An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...

which drew 246 entries from 7 Canadian provinces. James Stirling

James Stirling (architect)

Sir James Frazer Stirling FRIBA was a British architect. He is considered to be among the most important and influential British architects of the second half of the 20th century...

was on the panel of judges.

Opening of New Mississauga City Hall

The Duke

Prince Andrew, Duke of York

Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...

and Duchess of York

Sarah, Duchess of York

Sarah, Duchess of York is a British charity patron, spokesperson, writer, film producer, television personality and former member of the British Royal Family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, whom she married from 1986 to 1996...

were part of the opening ceremonies for the new civic centre in July 1987. The Duke's impression of City Hall was "It's quite remarkable". However, the media had fun with his quote about the building due to local criticism of the structure and the fact that the media found his response to be less than sincere.

Mississauga resident Don Cherry who is most notable for being on Hockey Night In Canada

Hockey Night in Canada

Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...

and a Canadian icon added fuel to the fire when he stated that the new City Hall reminded him of his home town Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

because it looked more like a penitentiary than a City Hall.

Mississauga also faced criticism over the fact that they decided to use bricks from a U.S. company for construction instead of using a long time big brick company close by (Brampton Brick LTD) in Brampton

Brampton, Ontario

Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...

, which borders Mississauga.

Architecture

The complex is home to:

Mississauga City Council
Mississauga City Council
Mississauga City Council is the governing body of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.The council consists of the mayor and 11 councillors elected to serve a four-year term. The last election was October 25, 2010...

chambers located in the cylindrical struture
wedding chapel (2nd floor)
Conservatory - enter from Great Hall
Great Hall - four storey open space with marble walls and glass pyramid atrium
mayor and councillor offices
city offices
Tower Banquet - banquet facilities on the 12 floor of the main wing (with the clock tower)
Great Stairs - connects the Great Hall to the main wing

Small openings allow visitors to view out into the Great Hall. A pyramid shaped atrium brings natural light into the Great Hall. By making references to local farm architecture around the suburban area of Mississauga as well as a clocktower—a feature associated with traditional city centres—it connects with its local context and historical architectural ideas, yet is decidedly untraditional in design.

A 9,000 square metre court yard, named Celebration Square, is a newly renovated multi-media public space. It also features a wading pool/ice rink located on the south side of the building; to the west is the floral garden, often used for wedding pictures. South of the complex is the five-storey Mississauga Central Library, one of the largest in the Greater Toronto Area

Greater Toronto Area

The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...

History

Opening of New Mississauga City Hall

Architecture

See also