Loud construction outside Concession Branch on Wednesday, August 5, may impact your visit. Appologies for any inconvienence.
Construction work at Concession Branch
Published:
Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 1:15pm
Bookmobile Schedule Modifications
Fri, Aug 7:
-
Due to driver availability, all Bookmobile visits are cancelled. Service is expected to resume next week.
Tues, Aug 18:
-
The 10:30-11am Visit to the Court at Rushdale is Cancelled
Sat, Aug 22:
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Pride Hamilton (Visit Bookmobile 9:30am-4:30pm at Pier 4 Park - 64 Leander Dr.) - All Visits Cancelled (Stoney Creek Arena 10-11am, Riverdale 11:15am-12:15pm and Discovery Centre 2:30-4pm).
Published:
Tuesday, August 4, 2026 - 9:30am
Kenilworth Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order
The accessible washroom at Kenilworth Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Published:
Thursday, July 30, 2026 - 5:45pm
New Loan Periods - Effective Monday, August 31
As of Monday, August 31, new loan periods will come into effect to shorten the wait time for popular hold items.
DVD Express - 3 days
DVDs and Blu-rays - 7 days (fiction, children's and languages)
Magazines - 7 days
Bestseller Express - 14 days
DVDs and Blu-rays - 14 days (non-fiction and TV series)
Books - 21 days
Music/Books on CD and Children's Express - 21 days
Please visit www.hpl.ca/borrowing for more details.
Published:
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 2:30pm
Study Halls Pause for Summer Break
After Hours Study Hall is not available in July and August. Hours will resume Tuesday, September 8. www.hpl.ca/study-halls
Published:
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 - 3:00pm
History of City Hall
Alderman Malcolm Cline imported a Wall Street management consultant, L. Edgar Detwiler. He proposed Hamilton erect an equivalent to Edmonton's famed Miracle Mile on the site of the Westdale dump. This site would contain the new City Hall, supermarkets, a farmer's cooperative, retail stores and underground parking. "Lord knows what we might come up with," declared the enthusiastic Mr. Detwiler. He assured staff that it could be financed with self-liquidating bonds, with the city providing the land and the services and the property being tax-free for the life of the contract (58). Mr. Detwiler hoped to be paid $50,000 for the economic analysis and plan. The discussion began again with proposals for new sites such as the McLaren's building at Park and Merrick, the Wilkinson-Kompass building and the I.O.O.F. Temple. The leading sites by this time were still the Princes’ Square and the H.C.C.I. locations. However, the decision was made to build beside the library on Main Street West.
Excavation begins for the new City Hall, 1958
With the site finally decided, the next decision was the design. Everyone agreed that the old city hall had to go but seemed equally insistent that parts of it should be kept to be incorporated into the new hall. One suggestion was to incorporate the old city hall clock into the design (59). The strangest suggestion came from Mayor Jackson. He hoped to have the old council chamber moved completely into the new city hall. This led to a spirited exchange between His Worship and the city architect Mr. Roscoe. "All I want from you," said the mayor, "is whether it's feasible. Never mind whether it's wise". Mr. Roscoe said it was feasible, but he would not do it. "No good modern architect would do it," said Mr. Roscoe. "Then maybe we should get an architect who is not good and modern and who would do it," replied the Mayor (60). A massive fall of plaster in the council chamber a few weeks later seemed to bear out the architect's arguments. The proposal was abandoned, albeit reluctantly, by the mayor (61).
