Designed by architect Edward Elliot, and constructed for the City of Halifax between 1887 and 1890, it is one of the oldest and largest public buildings in Nova Scotia.

[3] Designed in an eclectic, monumental style, the building is of cream and red sandstone, laid in the freestone technique.

The northern face (visible in the photograph above left), is fixed at four minutes past nine to commemorate the Halifax Explosion of 1917.

Two doors facing Duke Street provided access to the police station that was located in the first floor until the late 1940s.

It was from these jail cells that Harry Houdini escaped in 1896, just six years after City Hall opened.

[5] In 1907 stables were constructed under the north-east corner of the Grand Parade, at Barrington Street next to the dry moat.

The Halifax Police moved into the Market Building on Brunswick Street in 1953 from its cramped quarters in City Hall.

Halifax Hall, a large public meeting room, was created out of a number of offices in the east wing of the second floor.

Interior upgrades were undertaken to bring the public and office spaces up to modern standards while respecting and maintaining character defining heritage elements.

The renovation was driven in part to accommodate the newly downsized 16 member Regional Council, reduced from 23.

Other municipal departments are located in adjacent commercial office space such as the Duke Tower (across the street), Alderney Gate on the Dartmouth waterfront, and various other sites around the region.