PROJECTS: Restoring Murals and Ceilings

The great news about renovations to Old City Hall is that much costly work has already been done by the City of Toronto since 1991.

Decades of grime were scrubbed away to reveal the building's exterior striped in beige, brown and grey stone. Before then, OCH was sooty and unslightly.

Upgrades to the building's heating and ventilation system cost $34 million. Thirty metal workers took five years to replace the copper roofing. Internal and exterior renovations were designed to provide barrier-free accessibility while being sensitive to the heritage architecture. The front entrance portico was refurbished. The clock tower was restored along with seismic upgrades inside the belfry and observation desk. Plasterwork, such as for ceiling details, has been restored.

Romanesque-style gargoyles and finials were added back to the building for the first time in decades. Harsh freeze-and-thaw winters had caused the original sandstone decorations to crumble. This caused a 227 kilo/500 pound chunk of sandstone to crash through the roof in 1938. After that, all such medieval touches were removed for safety. The replacement decorations are now made of lightweight bronze.

Yet much restorative work needs to be done.

The faded murals in the entry hall, city council chamber and mayor's office haven't been touched since Queen Victoria ruled.

Many false ceilings mar OCH's soaring, 19th century ceilings and their hidden architectural details.

Fans of historic architecture should know that Pittsburgh has also been restoring the building which directly inspired E. J. Lennox's design of OCH. H. H. Richardson developed the Romanesque Revival (or Richardsonian Romanesque) style for Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail, completed in 1888. Lack of funds prevented the City of Pittsburgh from restoring it until the 2010s. (It, too, suffered from false ceiling "modernizations".) Work on its tile roof only began in 2018. Still an operating courthouse, a courtroom restored to how it would have looked in the 1880s (including a suitably 19th century clock) can be seen at: https://archive.triblive.com/news/allegheny-county-courthouse-may-finally-be-restored-to-its-former-glory/.