Page 7 - City of Calgary Historic City Hall Rehabilitation project

This new steel skeleton has corrected the leaning

and widening issues and will ensure the tower and
“It took them four years to the clock encasement remain immovable for the

originally build it, and four years next century.

for us to rehabilitate it. There’s a

synergy there, almost to the day. RENEWED FROM

The day we re-opened it this year, FOUNDATION TO ROOF

that was the day the cornerstone

The rehabilitation of Historic City Hall has been one
was laid for the building
of the most significant heritage projects underway
back in 1907.”
in Canada for the last five years. The building’s
exterior has been restored to a condition intended
- Darrel Bell: Acting Director of Facility
Management: City of Calgary: Historic City to last for another hundred years, with work done

Hall Rehabilitation Project. from the building’s foundation to its roof and many
components in between.

REHABILITATING THE FAMOUS
HUNDRED-FOOT CLOCK TOWER

Those who built Calgary’s City Hall in 1911 didn’t use
steel in its construction. The seven-storey clock

tower was made of load-bearing sandstone and red

bricks, but no steel. During their investigation, the
project team discovered that the clock tower had

shifted slightly away from the building over the last

century. Another issue discovered was that due to
gravity, the 8’ holes in which the clock faces are

housed had begun to come apart because of the
enormous weight of the structure.

As part of the rehabilitation project, the clock tower
has been reinforced inside with new structural steel

that fully braces the tower from the third floor up. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks at September 15,
2020 Historic City Hall re-opening ceremony.

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