Calgary's hard-working work of art.

The Calgary Municipal Building, which houses The Triangle Gallery (bottom right), is itself a notable design achievement.

Built between the years of 1982 and 1985, it originated with a design by architects Christopher Ballyn and Robert Hopewell who were partners in the Toronto-based Webb Zerafa Menkes Housden Partnership Ltd.

Ballyn’s other Calgary projects include Bow Valley Square, Mount Royal Village and the Scotia Centre. Hopewell worked on Toronto’s Sun Life Building and Montreal’s Bank of Paris.

TRIANGULAR DESIGN

Built at an original cost of $97 million, the triangular structure incorporates such construction components as silver reflective mirror glass windows and spandrels, curtain wall construction with clear anodized aluminum framing, limestone veneer paneling on lower vertical walls, and granite-surfaced podiums.

Landscaping combines extensive planting, trees, reflecting pools, stainless steel railings, aluminum flagpoles, and cedar decking on roof terraces. All major public areas have granite veneer floors and walls.

In all, 650 tons of structural steel, 4,000 metric tons of reinforced steel and 30,000 cubic metres of concrete were used in the construction.

IT'S HANDSOME - AND IT WORKS

The 14-storey Municipal Building is both architecturally striking and extremely functional - capable of housing the services essential to city administration.

It was designed as part of a Civic Complex that incorporated the old sandstone city hall built in 1911 and the 1962 Administration Building. And it was long overdue - since a 1959 plebiscite to build a new $4 million city hall failed.

Today, the 72,000 square metre facility houses some 2,000 city employees as well as providing a centre for a public services, Council Chambers with public seating for 184, an enclosed press gallery and a main floor cafeteria.

But efficient though it has proved to be, the Municipal Building was not originally received with the enthusiasm you might expect.

UNDERWHELMING ENTHUSIASM

In 1959 a plebiscite to build a new $4 million city hall was lost. In the 1970s, a $234 million Civic Centre concept, the redevelopment of a five block radius around old City Hall to include city hall offices, parking space, a major hotel and commercial buildings was planned and promoted but the new proposal was defeated by plebiscite in the fall of 1979.

By this time the city was leasing premises in 11 downtown locations to accommodate a growing administration at a cost of $2 million a year.

THE DECISION TOOK TWENTY YEARS

Eventually, in October 1980, the question of whether to build or to continue renting was put to Calgarians in another plebiscite and by a count of 103,850 to 39,079 voters at last supported the construction of a new civic administration building.

A province – wide architectural design competition invited were sent to 600 architects registered in Alberta specifying the need for a large building on a small site, provision for an underground LRT tunnel, retention of the historic 1911 city hall and te inclusion of public open space.

The winning design was selected from 74 submissions by a jury consisting of two Calgarians, historian Jack Peach and community worker Margaret Cadman and three architects; Jean Ouellet of Montreal, Fumihiko Maki of Japan and Joseph Esherik of San Francisco.

In addition a team of technical experts studied the plans for costs, energy consumption and staff needs.

CHRISTOPHER BALLYN WON THE JOB

City Council approved the final choice on 4th December, 1981, and Mayor Ralph Klein awarded Christopher Ballyn with a cheque for $100,000 as a partial fee for the best design. The reserve winner was Gerald Gongos of Edmonton.

Buildings demolished to accommodate the new city hall and underground parkade included the Queens and Imperial hotels. The Queens, built before 1900, was one of the properties located on four downtown blocks expropriated and bought by the city in 1978 – 1979 to make way for the original Civic Centre Project.

Construction on the three acre site south-east of the old city hall began in December 1982.

The original cost for the project was estimated at $124 million but with the onset of the recession, contractors bid low in an effort to secure steady employment. The building came in 25% to 30% under budget because of lower tenders and design cutbacks.

'A MONSTROSITY ... AN ABORTION ... UNCOUTH ...'

During the June 1985 conference of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities held in Calgary, delegates were given a sneak preview of the new Municipal Building with suprising results

The comments of Toronto Aldermen Dorothy Thomas and Dale Martin caused a furor across the country and incensed Calgarians.

The Herald wrote: "Calgary politicians were particularly irate with Toronto Alderman Dorothy Thomas’s reported statements that Calgary’s new civic building is a 'monstrosity' and an 'abortion' reflecting the 'uncouth' tastes of Mayor Ralph Klein 'who clearly has no vision.' Thomas said, 'We wouldn’t even allow a monstrosity like that to be built in downtown Toronto, let alone make it the heart of the city.' "

NO URINAL-SHAPED CITY HALL FOR CALGARY

The gloves came off and political cartoonists had a field-day. One pictured Ralph Klein on one side of Dorothy and a construction worker on the other. The construction worker who has his arm around Dorothy is saying, "Awwww, C’mon lady….we can’t make all city halls look like urinals."

The Municipal Building was officially opened by Mayor Ralph Klein on 18th October, 1985.

A time capsule with the theme "A Day in the Life of Calgary in 1985" was embedded in the floor to commemorate the event. Containing memorabilia from 1985, Olympic materials and a microfiche, the capsule will be opened during the city’s 200th anniversary in 2084.