"[1] Before long, even this wasn't enough space, and in 1845 the City Council resolved to create a permanent municipal building.

[1] This resulted in what some historians have referred to as "Providence's Thirty Years War," as the council bickered over where to site the new building.

Haven Brothers Diner, a Rhode Island landmark, is mobile cafe situated east of City Hall every evening.

In 1975, after concerns began to grow about possible demolition, Mayor Buddy Cianci instigated a full restoration and rehabilitation of the deteriorating building under the guidance of historian and preservationist Antoinette Downing, Frank Mauran III and Irving B. Haynes.

The entire structure was built on an artificial foundation set atop 3,128 pilings driven deep into the underlying hardpan.

Although the building was wired for electricity shortly after its construction, the clock mechanism remains in place and can be seen in the fifth floor Archives."

His office contained an elaborate array of communication devices, 50 speaking tubes, 50 electric bells and 50 annunciators which connected to all departments.

The upper levels of the building are within a high, convex, mansard slate roof that rises above the parallel-eaved parapet.

"[2]Because of its central location with vast open space before it, City Hall has been the scene of a number of speeches by visiting dignitaries.