TORONTO’s wonderful old pile on Queen Street West at Bay is off-limits to casual visitors.  Once our city’s third City Hall, it’s now a provincial court house.  X-ray security, some questionable characters, folks on the wrong side of the law, formally attired lawyers, no photographs allowed – that’s Old City Hall these days.

The building, which opened in 1899, was a sandstone creation by architect E. J. Lennox.  He designed several other important buildings around TORONTO.  From its clock tower chimes, scowling garygoyles, oak doors, mosaic floors, stone arcades, to murals by GEORGE AGNEW REID, the ‘Union of Commerce and Industry’ by stained-glass artist ROBERT McCAUSLAND, and multiple court rooms, it’s a structure with a glorious past and a colourful present.

PHOTOS – City of Toronto Archives – http://tayloronhistory.com