The Mississauga Civic Centre is the

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation's capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The 37,280 square metre complex is a prominent example of

postmodern architecture Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the International Style (architecture), international style adv ...

in Canada, finished in 1987 by Jones and Kirkland. It stands at 92 metres or 302 feet. The design was influenced by farmsteads which once occupied much of Mississauga as well as historical features of city centres. The building, for instance, includes a prominent clock tower. It was chosen as the winner of a design competition that included 246 submissions. Mississauga Civic Centre is located in the

City Centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

near

Square One Shopping Centre Square One Shopping Centre, or simply Square One, is a Canadian shopping mall located in Mississauga, Ontario. It is the largest shopping centre in Ontario and the second largest shopping centre in Canada, after West Edmonton Mall. It has over ...

and is home to the

Mississauga City Council Mississauga City Council is the governing body of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as ...

. The civic center building is considered one of the most iconic and recognizable buildings and cultural icons of Mississauga city.

History

Mississauga Civic Centre is the second home for City Hall and third home of local government. Cooksville Town Hall was built at Lot 16, Concession 1 SDS around 1870 and was built as single storey brick school house. It later housed Cooksville Public School from 1919 to 1921. In 1953 Township of Toronto Municipal Building at 100 Dundas Street West (Coronation Square Building) was built next to the old town hall. The old town hall structure became the east wing of the Toronto Township Municipal Building. It was designed by architect

Gordon Adamson Gordon Sinclair Adamson (19 May 1904 – 8 January 1986) was a Canadians, Canadian architect. Practising from 1928 to 1971 and working mainly in Toronto and Etobicoke, he operated his own practice from 1934 until his retirement. Adamson's major ...

, who built International style buildings. After the 1969 fire that gut the east wing, the Township offices were relocated once the 1 City Centre Drive was made available from developers of Square One. The 1950s municipal building became home to the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board and Sheridan College. Abandoned, the structure was demolished in 1970. The Township of Mississauga moved to 1 City Centre Drive near Burnhamthorpe and Hurontario in 1971. It along with Square One was located on the old Robert Norman Carr farm. Built as a 5 floor office building, it was converted as a civic centre in 1971. In 1974 it became City Hall and remained so until 1984. Converted to offices by the city, it was demolished in 1988 to give way to the current glass office tower at the site. The new design by Jones and Kirkland was chosen in September 1982 an

architectural design competition An architectural competition is a type of design competition, in which an entity that intends to build new work, or is just seeking ideas, invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning scheme is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

which drew 246 entries from 7 Canadian provinces. Architect James Stirling was on the panel of judges. The firm was founded by UK architect Edward Jones CBE and US partner Richard Kirkland. On completion of the Mississauga project Ed Jones returned to the UK to practice as

Dixon Jones Dixon Jones was a British architectural practice established in 1989 and closed in September 2020. History Dixon Jones was founded by Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones in 1989 as a partnership and became a limited company in 2003. The founders firs ...

and Kirkland practised mostly in the USA.

Opening of New Mississauga City Hall

The Duke and

Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of York. Three of the eleven Dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, while two of the Dukes married twice; therefore, th ...

were part of the opening ceremonies for the new civic centre in July 1987. The Duke's impression of City Hall was "It's quite remarkable". However, the media had fun with his quote about the building due to local criticism of the structure and the fact that the media found his response to be less than sincere. Mississauga resident

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

who is most notable for being on

Hockey Night In Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

and a Canadian icon added fuel to the fire when he stated that the new City Hall reminded him of his home town

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

because it looked more like a penitentiary than a City Hall. Mississauga also faced criticism over the fact that they decided to use bricks from a U.S. company for construction instead of using a long time big brick company close by (Brampton Brick LTD) in

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

, which borders

. The new hall is also a popular spot for bridal photo shoots. A scaled version of the building can be found in Mississauga Park in

Kariya, Aichi is a Cities of Japan, city in central Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 153,162 in 66,751 households, and a population density of 3,040 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kariya is situat ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Architecture

The complex is home to: *

chambers located in the cylindrical structure * The

Art Gallery of Mississauga The Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM) is a public, not-for-profit art gallery in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the Mississauga Civic Centre right on Celebration Square across from Square One Mall. The Gallery is open six days per w ...

(ground floor) * Civic Wedding chapel (2nd floor)- Stained Glass Window designed and built by Gundar Robez Studio * C Cafe restaurant (ground floor) * Great Hall – four storey open space with marble walls and glass pyramid atrium * Mayor and Council offices * departmental staff offices * fitness centre (4th floor) * Great Stairs – connects the Great Hall to the main wing Small openings allow visitors to view out into the Great Hall. A pyramid shaped atrium brings natural light into the Great Hall. By making references to local farm architecture around the suburban area of Mississauga as well as a clocktower—a feature associated with traditional city centres—it connects with its local context and historical architectural ideas, yet is decidedly untraditional in design. A 9,000-square-metre courtyard, named Celebration Square, is a newly renovated multi-media public space. It also features a wading pool/ice rink located on the south side of the building; to the west is the floral garden, often used for wedding pictures. South of the complex is the five-storey Mississauga Central Library, one of the largest in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

References

The Competition held for the design

Model of Cityhall by Jonathan L. Martins

External links

Image of Mississauga City Hall

Cooksville Town Hall

Toronto Township Municipal Offices
{{coord, 43.58840, N, 79.64445, W, display=title Buildings and structures in Mississauga City and town halls in Ontario Clock towers in Canada Postmodern architecture in Canada Tourist attractions in Mississauga Government buildings completed in 1987

History

Opening of New Mississauga City Hall

Architecture

See also

References

External links