| Corporation
Hall/City Hall
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Corporation Hall, S. Burdick Street. |
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Kalamazoo Public Library
Archives |
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Kalamazoo Village officers first got a home of
their own with the 1867 construction of Corporation Hall on the west
side of S. Burdick Street between South Street and Michigan Avenue.
Fire companies were located on the first floor, with additional municipal
offices on the second floor. Throughout the years, Corporation Hall
also provided space for the first public
library, the Ladies Library Association, and the Kalamazoo Board of Education. Although the fire
and police departments moved elsewhere
in the early 1900s, Corporation Hall was the seat of local government
until 1924. In 1925, the building was leased to the J.C. Penney department
store, which stayed there until 1956. Since then, various businesses
have occupied the building. Currently The Soup Kettle uses part of
that space. The building has had several
facades over the years,
but part of the original brick can still be seen on the second story
of the south side of the building.
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Interior of Kalamazoo City Hall,
c1931-39. |
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Kalamazoo Public
Library
Photograph P-30 |
The present City Hall was dedicated by Mayor S. Rudolph Light on
September 1, 1931. It was designed in the Art Deco style by Weary
and Alford of Chicago, and was erected by
Miller-Davis and equipped at a cost of
$524,000. It is a four-story reinforced concrete building decorated
with granite and limestone. A floral motif, typical of the Art Deco
style, can be found throughout the building, in such details as
the flagpoles, light fixtures, and railings. A band of bas-relief
carvings and text describing significant events in Kalamazoo’s
past adorns the top of all four exterior walls. A striking feature
of the interior is the mural on the walls and ceiling of the city
commission chambers, painted by local artist Otto Stauffenberg.
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For further information, we suggest
these sources:
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| H 720.9774 H838 |
Houghton, Lynn Smith and O’Connor, Pamela
Hall. Kalamazoo Lost and Found. The Kalamazoo Historic
Preservation Commission, 2001, p.55, and 188. |
| File |
History Room Subject File: Kalamazoo (Govt.) –
City Hall |
| Web page |
Kalamazoo Public Library web page: Kalamazoo’s
City Government |
Written by Karen Santamaria, Kalamazoo Public
Library Staff, 2002.
Last updated 16 October 2007.
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