Cultural Landmarks of Hamilton-Wentworth

Court House

Location:  currently at 50 Main Street East.  Future location will be at 10 John Street South, Hamilton, Ontario

"The first official courthouse -- a plain two-storey building built around 1817 -- was not pretentious although ably suited to the plain manners and customs of the times. It was built of logs, with the upper storey finished in frame. This early Court House, located just across the road on John Street and facing the present site, also served as a community hall. On alternating Sabbaths it was used as a place of worship for early Presbyterian and Church of England congregations.

It served its purpose for ten years, until a second Court House was formally opened. The old log structure was torn down to make way for a substantial stone inn operated by John McGee. Its spacious, cool taproom was a meeting place for barristers, jurymen, court clerks, and not infrequently a judge or two.

When the second Court House was built in 1827, provision was made for the first county Registry Office, where the land transactions of the new frontier county could be recorded. The building also included a number of cells in which prisoners could be confined while awaiting trial or punishment.

The name "Prince's Square" was given to the Court House site to mark the visit of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, in 1864. It was a memorable occasion. An elm sapling which the Prince planted is today one of the proudest trees in the Square [this tree was removed in 1970 when it contracted Dutch elm disease]. It was pointed out to a grandson Prince of Wales in 1919 and later, in 1939, to another grandson, George VI, who had just become King of England.

In the 1860's, there was a large pool in the Square about where the Loyalist monument now stands. For the occasion of the Royal Visit of 1864 a huge sturgeon was placed in this pool, but the annals of the time record that the royal fish was later stoned to death by some mischievous boys. To make up for this loss some county officials, whose civic zeal exceeded their knowledge of natural history, stocked the pool with 5,000 salmon fingerlings. Their fate was never recorded!

This second Court House was already deemed inadequate by the time of the Royal Visit in 1864. Plans were afoot for a new structure. The cornerstone of the third Court House building -- long familiar to recent generations -- was laid in 1877, the ceremony being carried out with full Masonic honors. It was finally opened on September 15, 1879. It cost the princely sum of $80,000, with Hamilton paying sixty percent and Wentworth County the remainder.

The majestic old Court House was formally opened by the Marquis of Lorne, then Governor-General of Canada. A magnificent state ball held in the ornate main court room, attended by members of the government, bar and bench, and many of Hamilton's leading citizens, climaxed the day."

From "Our New Court House"

The Wentworth County Court House was the design of a young Hamilton architect, C.W. Mulligan, whose plan called for the main entrance to be a bold portico, supported by four columns. Opposite the entrance was an impressive chamber for the Wentworth County Council, and an eighteen-foot-wide corridor ran the length of the ground floor. Off of this corridor were the offices of county officials and a large room to house the law library. The main court room, with its thirty-foot-high ceiling, was located on the second floor and was lit by large windows on the north and south sides of the building as well as a dome skylight in the centre of the ceiling.

The Court House remained in service this way until about the 1930's, when it was decided that another court room was needed, to handle the increasing number of cases. The large court room was partitioned into two rooms, but this was found to be rather inadequate and it was becoming apparent that the Court House needed to be either enlarged or replaced.

In the late 1940's, the Court House was painted, the grounds were attended to and electricians wired the building so that fluorescent lights could be installed. However, this did not solve the problem of overcrowding in the Court House.

Discussion over what should be done with the building continued into the 1950's. As the Court House's business increased, so did its staff. By the 1950's, employees were finding the building to be very cramped.

Great debate ensued over whether additions should be made to the old Court House or if a new building should be constructed instead. Many citizens indicated that the building should not be destroyed, simply because of its historical and architectural value. Others pointed out that its deteriorating condition left little choice. Hamilton Mayor Lloyd D. Jackson favoured the preservation of the Court House stating that he was "rather fed up with the ‘functional' argument. Somebody's grandmother mightn't be functional, but you don't do away with her just because she isn't." He suggested that a three or four storey addition be built on Jackson Street between John and Hughson Streets. The addition, he said, could then be connected to the old Court House by an overhead walkway. However, this decision was deemed impractical, and the Court House was slated for demolition in January of 1956. All of the building's fixtures were sold.

The tender for construction of the new Court House, which would be located on the same site as the old one, went to Hamilton's Piggot Construction Company. The architect responsible for the design was Alvin Prack.

Construction work proceeded along rather quickly and at 2pm on April 12, 1957, the cornerstone of the new building was laid. Mayor Lloyd D. Jackson, Warden A. Kenneth Smith and Hon. Kelso Roberts, Ontario Attorney-General, were all in attendance.

After the cornerstone was laid, work on the $3,250,000 Court House resumed and ran well into 1958. Stone blocks from the old Court House were moved, some of them being taken as far as Sudbury, to be used in the new St. Jean de Brebeuf Roman Catholic Church.

On June 18, 1958, the official opening of the new five-story-high Court House was held. This ceremony was attended by Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, the Hon. Keiller Mackay, Mayor Lloyd D. Jackson and Warden Joseph R. Sams. Following their speeches, Alvin Prack presented the Lieutenant-Governor with the golden key to the building.

The United Empire Loyalist monument, which had been removed from its location outside the Court House so that it was not damaged during construction, was put back out front, with a new pedestal, when the building was finished.

The new Court House, despite being compared to an apartment complex by some citizens, was described as being one of the best in Canada.

"The facing of Queenston limestone is an effective foil for the porcelain-faced panels of a deep, smokey-blue, set in the window areas and marking each floor level. The paneling is punctuated with gleaming, tall granite pilasters, accenting the height of the new Court House.

Huge blocks of Indiana limestone form slightly concave facades on each wing, and bear sculpted figures by Joseph A. Gause symbolizing the development of industry and agriculture, and the twin progress of Wentworth and Hamilton.

The approach from Main Street is a wide walk, divided by a colorful flower bed and the monument, converging with the promenades connecting John and Hughson Streets, and thence to the entrance plaza. At night, the exterior of the building will be illuminated by floodlighting from the underside of the cornice and from the base of the entrance plaza.

Spacious and bright, the foyer gives an impressive introduction to the new building. Pillared and walled with Quebec granite, it gives ready access into the main east-west halls. The flooring here is of Tennessee Endesley pink marble, with walls of polished Botticino marble -- "book-matched" to form continuing patterns.

Turning right, the main hall leads to the County Council Chamber flanked by the County Clerk-Treasurer's office, general county offices and committee rooms.

The Council Chamber is tastefully decorated with paneling and fittings of cherrywood and along the west wall the paneling provides a portrait area for former county Wardens. County Council members will sit at a horseshoe-shaped table. Acoustically-treated plaster, with rear walls paneled with perforated metal over fiberglass insulation, will control resonance and echo effects.

The east wing is shared by the Court Clerk's and Crown Attorney's general offices, with private offices facing the east promenade. Also in the east wing are the Sheriff's general office, a clerical office, and in the southeast corner, the Sheriff's private office.

At the rear of the main foyer, stainless steel numerals form the clock face surmounting the entrance doors to the busy Registry Office. The Registry Office occupies the entire central section. This portion of the building was completed late in the fall of 1957, and the Registrar and his staff were the first to occupy their offices in the new Court House -- now serviced both from Jackson Street entrances, and the main foyer.

The second floor is designed around four court rooms, and includes all judicial facilities associated with court procedures. A juror's lounge across the front of the central section connects with the two jury court rooms. Judges' retiring rooms are in the four outer corners. In the intervening length of the windowed section of each wing are the witness rooms, and the jury rooms where the twelve "tried and true" weigh evidence and decide the fate of the defendant waiting in the nearby detention room.

The court rooms are most impressive, and are constructed to reduce outside influences to a minimum, being both windowless and sound-proofed. Fluorescent tubes in panels, recessed into the ceiling, are concealed with flush-mounted opaque plastic which diffuses the illumination to simulate daylight.

The acoustical treatment includes perforated metal panels over fiberglass on the rear walls. The outer walls are paneled with rift cut light oak and cherrywood stiles and base form a decorative contrast. The judicial furnishings -- judges' desks, jury boxes, prisoners' boxes, lawyers' tables, etc. -- are of light oak, as are the pews for court observers and the paneled dividers separating the public section from the court officials. The public seating of each is double that of the main court room in the old Court House.

The jurors' lounge is a pleasant assembly spot for citizens called for jury duty. Overlooking the front entrance, the room is bright with windows, and is furnished with comfortable occasional chairs and tables. Large wardrobes are closed off at either end, and folding doors divide the long lounge into sections. Chandelier-style light fixtures of brass provide illumination and a decorative touch.

The third room might well be called the "lawyers' floor" although a supplementary court room with an adjacent judge's retiring room occupies the west end. A law library extends across the front, between the lawyers' lounge on the east and the supplementary court room. Tiers of law-books fill the room, and fluorescent lights effectively illuminate the library.

The fourth floor provides private offices for four Judges, and Chambers for special hearings. The Judges' Chambers, with public entrances from the main hall, are luxuriously furnished in African mahogany. A combination of incandescent surface-mounted, and warm fluorescent recessed lighting has been used here. Individual switches allow control of the amount of lighting required. The Judges' private offices, adjacent to each Chamber, are comfortably furnished and carpeted, and each has a private washroom, a built-in wardrobe, and a safe.

Also on the fourth floor are: a large general office which will accommodate the secretarial pool; the court examiner's office, and the court reporters' offices. It is anticipated that the court examiner's and court reporters' offices will eventually be moved to the fifth floor when additional space is required for Judges' quarters on the fourth floor."

From "Our New Court House"

In October of 1965, a fire struck on the top floor of the Court House, causing $30,000 in damage which was repaired. It was also around this time that plans were being made to have a few new court rooms opened in nearby Terminal Towers to handle traffic court cases. These were scheduled to be ready for February of 1966.

By July, 1967, employees at the Court House were complaining about the cramped conditions of their offices. The Court House had been designed so that it could be expanded upward if necessary and the employees began asking officials to look into the possibility.

In January of 1971, a Supreme Court grand jury toured the Court House and recommended that more court rooms and a second jurors' lounge be added to the building. Problems with insufficient office space were being resolved at this time by shuffling the various offices around. Attempts were made to re-arrange the offices in the most efficient way possible.

The following year, problems with the Court House roof were detected. Apparently a leak had developed several years before, but nothing had been done about it and it became worse. The leak would have cost less than $100 to fix if it had been taken care of when it first developed, but as it was, seventy percent of the roofing, plus the insulation needed to be repaired, which would cost several thousand dollars.

With the disbanding of Wentworth County Council on December 22, 1973, the Court House's name was changed from the Wentworth County Court House to the Hamilton-Wentworth Court House.

In May, 1979, a public inspection panel toured the Court House and reported that "a foul odor was detected in hallways on the third, fourth and fifth floors." The odor, they said, "was probably urine." According to one man who occasionally visited the Court House, "Every time I walk into the building I notice a strange odor but maybe regular employees get accustomed to it." Recommendations were made for "considerable refuse" in the basement to be removed and for doors with some means of observation to be installed in prisoner washroom areas, possibly with partitions across the toilet facilities.

By 1989, a solution to the problem of the crowded Court House had been developed. It was suggested that the 54-year-old Dominion Public Building at the corner of John Street and King Street be purchased and converted into a new Court House. The Crown attorney's office and the provincial and general division courts on Main Street East would be moved to the new location, with only the unified (family) court remaining in its present location next to City Hall. Purchasing the building would cost about $6.7 million, a seventh floor and tower on the west side of the building would be added, and the total cost of the project was estimated to be $64 million. In November of 1993, the government decided to give the job to a Toronto-based architectural firm, Norr Partnership Ltd. Since that time, work on making the new Court House has been ongoing.

References:
Clipping File.  Hamilton - Streets - John Street South #10.  Special Collections, HPL.Our Heritage Scrapbook. vol. 1. Special Collections, HPL.
Joint Court House Committee, Our New Court House, Hamilton, 1958.
Our Heritage Scrapbook. vol. 6. Special Collections, HPL.
Wentworth County Court House Scrapbooks.  Special Collections, HPL.