After many years of planning and acquisition of land for the site, construction began on the Grand Rapids City Hall, completed in 1888. There were other buildings previously used for city government, but this was the first formally planned to bring all of the functions under one roof. The site settled on was on Lyon Street from Ottawa Avenue to Ionia Avenue

Elijah E. Myers of Detroit was the architect, with construction by W.D. Richardson of Springfield, Ill. The cost, including real estate, equipment and furnishings, totaled $314,888.61. A copper box of souvenirs was enclosed in the cornerstone on Sept. 9, 1885. The Hall was dedicated Sept. 26, 1888, with tours for the citizenry.

The building was three stories, with a full basement and a clock tower. Lighting was initially supplied by gas, until 1906 when Grand Rapids Electric Company installed that more modern utility. The elevator originally ran by water power, but was electrified in 1926. Many of the chambers had fireplaces.

As the government grew, various departments and operations were annexed to other buildings, with a return to the pre-City Hall problem of scattered city resources. Then in the 1950s and 1960s came urban renewal. Whole blocks of the structures shown in historical views of Grand Rapids were razed to make way for modern structures. Both the need for additional facilities and this new urban planning movement marked the end of what had now become “Old City Hall.” Historic preservationists and interested citizens lobbied to save the whole structure and were prepared toward the end of the struggle to settle for the tower. But the destructors had their way and in November 1969, after the dedication of the new City and County buildings and the Alexander Calder stabile “La Grande Vitesse,” the entire structure was razed. Its demise is documented in the photographs of many citizens, including a now famous photo record of a final act of protest, as Mary Stiles sat chained to the wrecking ball, before the final demolition took place.

While most of the images of the building document the outside, and its destruction, the quality color images in this collection, taken by commercial photographer Marius Rooks, provide a brief tour of the core of the interior of the building. Tile floor, ornate ceilings and other interior details are shown.

References

A. Image use from this collection

1. The Paper, v. 2, no. 4, Sept. 24-30, 1998. Rooks #2 on cover.

B. Other sources with information on Old City Hall

1. GRPL Local History Vertical File. City Hall.

2. Grand Rapids Sampler. Mary Stiles picture.

3. Seeley Collection. Copies of Architectural drawings by Myer.

4. 216-4-7 Poster for new City-County Building, with images of Old City Hall.

5. Urban Renewal Clippings

6. 254, Boxes 19 & 19.5. Grand Rapids Building Collection.

7. 125- . Robinson Studio urban renewal and the construction of the new city and county building by Skidmore Owings and Merrill.

8. Coll. 1, Nancy Mulnix Collection, including an image of Alexander Calder with the Old City Hall seen through La Grande Vitesse.

9. 224. New renderings of views of this building