ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

The pedestrian bridge between the Eaton Centre and Hudson Bay is the best place to be a sidewalk foreman, watching the construction, but also a place to think about the future of this block. While the Hudson Bay building is privately owned, Old City Hall is municipal property and an incredible, once-in-a-century, opportunity to do something great and civic-minded here. Perhaps as great a feat as when small, provincial ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ planned and built as grand a city hall as it did in the 1890s. ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ had ambition then, and it could again.

The future of Old City Hall has been an issue before. One early plan for the Eaton Centre save for the clock tower which would have emerged from an austere plaza. There’s no chance of that now as the 1899 Richardsonian Romanesque beauty is properly appreciated as a historic ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ icon. It’s an exquisite building.

There’s a historic detail for everyone. Architect E.J. Lennox included carved grotesque faces on the façade of himself and city councillors of the day. Dramatic gargoyles reach out from the clock tower. Alas, the upper floors of Hudson Bay had fantastic views of it all. There’s also decades of courthouse lore, some tragic, some infamous, like the great photos of Keith Richards, all cleaned up in suit and tie, coming to Old City Hall for a 1977 hearing after he was busted for heroin possession while staying at the Harbour Castle (then Hilton now Westin).

A long-held dream is for the building to become the home of a new, central ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ museum, a place to tell the city’s story and exhibit its vast collection of artifacts. Much of the latter are stored at in Liberty Village in the former Bank of Commerce Book Vaults, packed to the rafters and proof this city has considerable history worth showing.

While the collection is exhibited at the city’s ten smaller museums, Old City Hall could show much more. It’s the ideal building in an ideal location, but it will take considerable money, both public and philanthropic, for the museum to happen.

In the meantime the city is doing a good thing: they’re opening it up to the public for “.� The big central courtyard, previously used for court parking, is open every Friday. People are invited to bring their lunch but snacks are also available. There are tours and even pop-up civil weddings. All baby steps, but important ones.

I’d wager that most ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½nians have never been inside because, as a courthouse for so long, unless you had business there, Keith Richards or otherwise, it’s the kind of place you don’t just walk into. I’ve only been inside once, on a Doors Open weekend twenty-five years ago. The public needs some time to get to know the building, become attached, maybe even fall in love with it, for a city museum or some other ambitious project to gain momentum.

This kind of provisional occupation and animation of the building reminds me of the In/Future festival that took place on the west island of Ontario Place in 2016 after the amusement attractions closed and its own future was in flux. An impressive program of performances and art installations inhabited the island, including some of the defunct rides. Most importantly it was open to the public. They could roam the site, explore it seemingly without supervision, and even buy a beer. It felt like magic, but all that potential has been bulldozed for Doug Ford’s private mega spa.

The future of Old City Hall is still bright and ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ should go all in with this reintroduction, thinking even bigger. Let temporary things happen throughout the building. Pop-ups shops or bars in various rooms. How about raves in the courtyard, Berlin style? Make it a Nuit Blanche venue, a different artist in each room. Get ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½nians to think this building is essential to public life in this city.

Embody ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s 1890s ambition today, for fun and innovative temporary uses, bringing life to the building and block, but also to get us dreaming big about what it could become.