Scandals of Old City Hall

Old City Hall was scandalous from the start. It took so long to build -- from 1889 to 1899 -- for three times the original cost estimate that a furious Toronto City Council refused to allow a plaque with the architect's name on the building. So E. J. Lennox had his stone masons carve his name on the Bay Street side of OCH instead. The architect's moustached visage is also among the building's medieval-style carved details.

Scandalous in the 1960s was Toronto City Council's approving of the demolition of this heritage building once New City Hall was built. The T. Eaton Co. Ltd. wanted to create a office/shopping complex on OCH's prime location. Only the clock tower and cenotaph would have remained.

Needed now is research into all the scandalous trials and people who were part of the history of OCH and the wider history of Toronto!