On September 18, 2021 history was made as Mayor Kevin Davis, along with members of City Council, City staff and the community celebrated the Grand Opening of the Brantford’s new City Hall at 58 Dalhousie Street in downtown Brantford.
The centralized location now houses staff who previously occupied six decentralized corporate administrative facilities including 100 Wellington Square, 84 Market St., 1 Market Square, 180 Greenwich St., 1-3 Sherwood Drive, and 399 Wayne Gretzky Parkway.
As a result of the consolidation, the most recent update to the City’s Accommodation Strategy approved by City Council in September 2020 forecasts a savings of $21.57 million in the City’s 10-year Capital Plan and $1.12 million in annual operating budget savings.
A key benefit of consolidating services is that we can now offer citizens a one-stop access point for all services making it more convenient to take advantage of the City’s 200 plus programs and services.
During the City Hall reconstruction project, the clock tower was inspected and, at the time, did not pose an immediate risk to public safety. During a recent inspection of the tower, facilities staff identified several pieces of acrylic and glass in the clock dials had cracked, and some have already fallen off and broken away. Additionally, the clock hands are coming apart and run the risk of separating from the main section and falling. To ensure public safety, restoration work will begin this week to prevent the larger pieces coming loose and falling to the ground during a major wind storm.
While completing this work, the clock mechanisms will also be modernized to working order through replacement of the clock faces, clock hands, panes and caulking.
The repairs will be funded through a City Hall maintenance budget and donations raised from the ‘Let’s Fix the Clock Tower Restoration Campaign’ led by Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis.
“This is such an iconic focal point of the City’s downtown and an important part of our history,” said Mayor Davis. “I’m grateful to all those who donated to the fundraising campaign, and so pleased that the clocktower will be restored to safe working order for all to enjoy.”
Repair work beginning August 17, 2022 is expected to take at least 8 weeks. While scaffolding will be set up on the sidewalk outside the front entrance of City Hall, public access to City Hall will not be impacted during this time.
Brantford’s City Hall was built between 1913 and 1915, when the building was originally constructed as a federal post office.
