Old City Hall, at 60 Queen Street West, is the Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by Edward James Lennox that opened in September 1899 as Toronto’s third city hall and a courthouse. Council left it when the present City Hall was completed in 1965, and provincial courts used it until spring 2025. It is a National Historic Site of Canada, and its clock tower is aligned with Bay Street.
The page on six historic Toronto buildings gives a one-line entry for the building, with its registry details. This article covers the competition, the architect’s quarrel with the city, the interior, and the campaign that kept it standing.
Timeline of the building
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1886 | Lennox wins the design competition | City of Toronto; Canadian Encyclopedia |
| July 1887 | Lennox completes his drawings | City of Toronto |
| 1889 | Construction begins | Canada’s Historic Places |
| November 1891 | Cornerstone laid | City of Toronto |
| September 1899 | Building opens | Heritage Toronto |
| 1907 | Lennox submits his itemized bill; the City refuses to pay | City of Toronto |
| 1925 | Cenotaph erected on the lawn | City of Toronto |
| 1965 | New City Hall takes over municipal functions | Heritage Toronto |
| 1966 to 1967 | Eaton’s demolition plan lapses | Heritage Toronto |
| 1984 | National Historic Site designation (the City gives 1989) | Canada’s Historic Places |
| Spring 2025 | Courts finish moving out | Heritage Toronto |
The architect and the competition
The Canadian Encyclopedia gives Lennox’s dates as 1854 to April 15, 1933, both in Toronto. He studied architectural drawing at the Mechanics’ Institute, apprenticed with William Irving, and at age 22 formed a partnership with William Frederick McCaw. By 1881 he practised alone, and within about four years his office was reputedly among the largest in Canada. He later designed Casa Loma for Sir Henry Pellatt, built from 1909 to 1913, described in the article on the castle.
The City of Toronto records that Lennox won the 1886 competition for a combined courthouse and municipal building, and that he drew on H. H. Richardson, in particular the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh. The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that he visited several major cities in the eastern United States to reassure the City Building Committee. Canada’s Historic Places dates the design work to 1883 to 1886 and construction to 1889 to 1899, while the Canadian Encyclopedia says construction ran from 1887, so the start date differs by source.
What the building looks like inside and out
Canada’s Historic Places describes a four-storey quadrangle around a central courtyard, with corner pavilions and towers, richly textured two-toned sandstone, round-arched openings, and a triple-arched entrance. The massive square clock tower has medieval-style motifs. It is placed off-centre so that it lines up with Bay Street, the center of the city’s financial power, according to the register.
Inside, the register lists a two-storey entrance hall with a divided staircase, a mosaic floor, murals by George Agnew Reid, and a stained glass window by Robert McCausland Limited. The City names the window “The Union of Commerce and Industry” and calls it one of the few secular stained-glass windows in the city. The register names John Elliott as the builder.
Cost, quarrels, and the unpaid bill
Heritage Toronto states that the decade-long project ran more than $1 million (CAD) over budget and well behind schedule, that councillors refused to pay the overruns, and that Lennox was publicly criticized. The Canadian Encyclopedia reports a dispute with a contractor that led Lennox and police to force their way into the barricaded site.
The City of Toronto’s account of the dispute runs as follows. Lennox delayed submitting his itemized bill until 1907. The City disputed it and refused payment, and Lennox sued. The case reached the Supreme Court and took four years to settle in the City’s favour. The Canadian Encyclopedia agrees that he lost.
The stone faces: record and tradition
Carvings of animals and people decorate the exterior, and the City says they reportedly include Lennox himself. Heritage Toronto and the Canadian Encyclopedia both say the grotesques above the arches show councillors with whom he had clashed. The Canadian Encyclopedia states this as fact, while Heritage Toronto words it as a saying (“said to be”). No document read for this page names the councillors, so the identification is best treated as tradition.
Public life from 1899 to 1965
Heritage Toronto notes that the building opened before a crowd of about 20,000 and that for about six decades it hosted war commemorations, royal visits, and protests. The City records that a Cenotaph was erected on the lawn in 1925 to honor Torontonians who died in the First World War, and that it was later updated to include the Second World War and the Korean War. The City’s architecture exhibit adds that the attic served as the City’s first records centre. The Canadian Encyclopedia says the clock bells were installed a year after the opening, in time for the new century.
The council that sat here had earlier met at the market. For that earlier phase, see the account of St. Lawrence Market.
The demolition threat and the campaign to keep it
Heritage Toronto records that Eaton’s sought to demolish the building in the 1960s for a shopping complex. Metro Council voted in 1966 to lease rather than sell the land, and Eaton’s withdrew in May 1967. The Eaton Centre opened in 1977 on the surrounding land, a story told in the article on the Eaton Centre and shopping districts. The City adds that the building was added to the Toronto Heritage Properties Inventory in 1973, and designated under bylaw 332-86 in 1986.
After the courts
Heritage Toronto reports that the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation became the main tenant after 1965, with provincial courts and the City’s provincial offences courts leasing space. In spring 2025 the courts finished moving into the new St. Lawrence Market North building, leaving Old City Hall largely vacant. A 2018 council vote of 35 to 3 approved a proposal for a flagship museum, but projected repair costs ran to hundreds of millions of dollars and the plan stalled. In early 2025 the City published a Future Uses Analysis recommending that interim and long-term uses be re-examined. Plans for the building may change, so the City of Toronto’s Old City Hall page is the place to check current use.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called Old City Hall?
The current City Hall, completed in 1965, replaced it as the seat of municipal government. The name distinguishes the 1899 building from its successor.
When did Old City Hall become a National Historic Site?
Canada’s Historic Places and Parks Canada record the designation on November 23, 1984. The City of Toronto gives 1989, so the federal record is the better guide.
Are the gargoyles faces of councillors?
That is the popular account, repeated by Heritage Toronto and the Canadian Encyclopedia. No document read for this page identifies specific councillors.
Is Old City Hall still a courthouse?
Not since spring 2025, when the courts moved to the new St. Lawrence Market North building, according to Heritage Toronto.
Related reading
- Six historic buildings in a summary table
- St. Lawrence Market and the first city hall
- Osgoode Hall and the Law Society
- Toronto’s heritage register
- Toronto’s history in outline
Sources
- City of Toronto, “A Work in Progress: Civic Architecture” and Old City Hall visitor pages
- Heritage Toronto, “Vacancy at Old City Hall”
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Edward James Lennox” and “Toronto Feature: Old City Hall”
- Canada’s Historic Places: Old Toronto City Hall and York County Court House National Historic Site of Canada
Last verified: October 2026
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Old City Hall: Lennox, the Unpaid Bill, and the 1960s Rescue. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/old-city-hall-history
MLA: “Old City Hall: Lennox, the Unpaid Bill, and the 1960s Rescue.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/old-city-hall-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Old City Hall: Lennox, the Unpaid Bill, and the 1960s Rescue.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/old-city-hall-history.
The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.