Nanaimo City Hall - Nanaimo, BC
Posted by: 
elyob
N 49° 09.838 W 123° 56.280
10U E 431618 N 5446106
There is parking along Wallace Street.
Waymark Code: WM12PA5
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 06/25/2020
Views: 8
The heritage designation applies to the city hall building and to the gardens (lawn) and the roadway (Mark Bate Lane). I have often seen citizens enjoying a time of relaxation on the lawn. The city hall building is on an outcrop which rises above the lawn. An addition on the north side of the city hall building (1970) has also been accepted in the heritage designation on the Nanaimo Heritage Register.
Description of Historic Place
Nanaimo City Hall is a two-story, International style building located in the downtown core. The historic place comprises the building, gardens and roadway.
Heritage Value
From incorporation in 1874 to the completion of this building in 1951, civic business was conducted from a succession of inferior buildings inherited from other organizations. The purpose-built City Hall represents the maturation and modernization of the municipal government and, by extension, the City as a whole.
Built in 1951, City Hall is an excellent example of and Nanaimo's first venture into the International style. Designed to project progress and modernity, the historic International style was the appropriate choice for a municipality striving to overcome its image as a dirty, depressed coal town and present itself as a forward looking city. A sympathetic 1970 addition on the north side respects the original building's architectural integrity. The exterior and interior are largely intact.
City Hall is significant because of its association with architect Thomas B. McArravy. One of the pioneers of the use of modernism on Vancouver Island, McArravy was Nanaimo's most prominent architect for many years. City Hall has survived in near pristine condition, a testament to the integrity of the original design and McArravy's skill.
The gardens at the side and front of City Hill were designed at the same time as the building and are integral parts of the site's value. Situated on a high rocky outcropping, the extensively landscaped grounds soften the rigid formality of the building's architecture. The winding roadway that leads to the front entry provides a welcoming entrance, appropriate to a public building.
Source: City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department, file #6800-20-H01-02/455 Wallace Street