nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit,
the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee
and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many
diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
And we also acknowledge that Toronto is
covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.
Nathan Phillips Square is a public square
that hosts over 1.5 million visitors every year,
everything from concerts to community events.
It also has other key features including public art.
Square was named after former Mayor Nathan Phillips,
who served on council for 36 years,
eight of them as mayor.
He was responsible for the rebuild of Toronto City Hall.
Features on the Square include the Peace Garden,
the concert stage,
several public art sculptures and monuments,
an elevated walkway that surrounds the Square,
and a large reflecting pool that turns into an
ice rink during the winter.
Did you know that the Freedom Arches that soar
across the reflecting pool contain a piece of the Berlin Wall?
Three-Way Piece No. 2 by Henry Moore,
known to Torontonians as the "Archer",
stands beside the official flag pole.
The art piece was part of the architect's initial plan for the Square,
however the piece caused controversy because of its abstract design and cost.
As a result, Mayor Phillip Givens undertook
a campaign to raise the $100,000 needed to purchase the Archer
through private donations.
In the southeast corner of the square
are five flags from the Mississaugas of the New Credit,
the Haudenosaunee or Six Nations of the Grand River Territory,
the Huron-Wendat,
as well as the Métis Nation, and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
The current City Hall in Toronto is the fourth building to house the seat of
local government since it was formed in 1834.
Prior to this building, the area was called "the Ward"
and it was a heavily populated community of newcomers,
refuges and migrants.
In 1957 an international architectural competition
was launched to find a design for a new Toronto City Hall.
510 submissions were received from 42 different countries.
The winner of the competition was
Finnish architect Viljo Revell.
Revell's design was divided into three main parts:
the podium, the convex circular council chamber,
and two office towers of differing heights.
The entire complex has a sculptural quality
that makes it a striking landmark and a symbol
of a growing city in the modern age.
Construction started in 1961 and the
building was opened on September 13, 1965.
The final cost was approximately $31 million.
Tragically, Revell did not live to see the building open.
He died of a heart attack 10 months
prior to the opening ceremonies at the age of 54.
This carving invites us to remember him in his contribution to the building.
We'll now enter City Hall and explore the highlights,
starting with teak-faced front doors,
with handles that echo the curved shape of the building towers.
On the east wall is a mural called Metropolis,
commonly referred to as the "Wall of Nails".
The mural is by artist David Partridge.
It was the winning entry in an art
competition held in 1974 to select a permanent work of art which complemented
the City Hall's unique architectural style.
Metropolis was installed in 1977.
The work is a symbolic interpretation of
a great city or a metropolis, created from 100,000 common nails,
made up of nine panels,
each weighing about 180 kilograms.
The circle of massed copper nails in the centre represents the heart,
or downtown core, of the city.
As we move into the Rotunda,
note that the floor is made of Carrera marble from Italy,
cut in Canada and laid by hand.
In the middle of the Rotunda is a massive,
reinforced concrete column,
measuring six metres across,
one metre thick,
and down 16 metres into the bedrock
beneath the building's foundation.
This column supports the 4,000 tonne
Council Chamber above.
The core is hollow and contains electrical cables,
heating and air-conditioning equipment
that serve the Chamber above.
The Hall of Memory is at the base of a column.
The walls bear the insignia of military units that have,
at some point, been located in Toronto.
A glass display case sometimes displays two books
the "First World War book of Remembrance"
and the Second World War "Golden Book of Remembrance",
engraved with the names of servicemen and women from Toronto who died
serving their country during the two world wars.
The Canadian flag and the
Royal Union Flag are on either side of the display case,
the latter being the flag under which many Canadians fought until Canada
adopted its own flag.
The cylinder embedded here contains a
time capsule several items including municipal handbooks,
coins, stamps, newspapers, awards and books.
It was installed on November 7, 1962
just prior to construction of the column.
Let's head upstairs to the second floor.
The second floor is where you'll find
the offices of the Mayor and City Councillors.
This circular floor overlooks the rotunda below.
The second floor is home to a number of prominent artworks including
"Views to the City Mosaic" by local artists Brian Kipping and John McKinnon.
The copper and glass mosaic tiles present a rooftop panoramic view of the
east and west from the roof of City Hall in the 1960s.
Also featured is "Ancestral Figure with Spirit Helpers" by Norval Morisseau.
From Northern Ontario and the Anishinaabe people,
he was one of Canada's most accomplished
Indigenous artist and was appointed to the Order of Canada
in 1978 in recognition of his contribution to Canadian art.
The City of Toronto coat of arms hangs on the wall just outside the Mayor's office.
The Coat of Arms is one of four symbols of the City of Toronto.
Toronto's motto, Diversity, Our Strength is drawn from the Coat of Arms.
Two of the other symbols of Toronto are Toronto's flag and logo.
Inside the Mayor's office is the fourth symbol of Toronto,
the Ceremonial Chain of Office.
This is worn on official occasions such as the First Meeting of Toronto City Council.
The Chain of Office includes gold medallions to incorporate elements from
the five former Cities and the Borough of East York,
as well as the former Municipality of Metro Toronto.
The Mayor's Office incorporates working space and a ceremonial area where the
Mayor greets official visitors, or holds,
receptions and press conferences.
The Mayor's desk is an historical element of the building and was designed
to complement the architectural features of the structure.
The office also affords a great view of Nathan Phillips Square.
An unknown gem of Toronto City Hall is an outdoor observation deck
on the 27th floor of the East Tower.
Within Revell's original design his
vision was for a 'Top of the Tower' rooftop restaurant.
Although the restaurant never opened,
the floor did become an outdoor observation deck,
until it was closed for accessibility and safety concerns.
We are now in the Council Chamber,
the heart of the design of City Hall.
Official meetings of Toronto's City Council
are held in the Chamber and the public can attend when Council is in session.
The chamber is 46 metres wide and 12 metres at its highest point
and supported solely by the circular column below it.
The ceiling weighs over 2,000 tonnes
and was made by pouring concrete into a single plywood mould.
It took 40 days for the concrete to dry.
The horseshoe-shaped council floor has
desks to accommodate the Councillors and Mayor
with the Speaker's Platform at the head of the room.
The Member's Lounge is located behind the Council Chamber.
During meetings the lounge is a private retiring area where Members can take a break,
make phone calls or speak with their staff.
It is also used as a venue for official receptions,
press briefings and on other occasions.
Outside the Council Chamber is the podium roof.
In the 1960s, visiting dignitaries would
arrive by car onto the roof and be welcomed
at the "front door" of the Council Chambers.
Now this area is home to a green roof garden
where approximately 3,200 square metres of concrete was transformed
with living vegetation to reduce the building's environmental impact.
We hope you've enjoyed this tour of Toronto City Hall.
We invite you to explore our website for more information on the history of the
building and its features.