The rehabilitation of Calgary’s 109-year-old City Hall has been completed after four years of renovations.

Most members of city council gathered on the front steps of the recently unveiled building on Tuesday to celebrate the end of the $34.1-million project, which city officials say should ensure it will be around for another century.

“Today is a very special day,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said.

“The folks who were smart enough to build this magnificent piece of public infrastructure in 1911 … were building for the future that they wanted to build for their children and grandchildren.”

Originally constructed between 1907 until 1911, historic City Hall was once used as a police station, a court and a jail. 

In the years since, the building has been the home of city council offices as well as the city clerk. 

It has also remained a noteworthy site for events in the city, including a peace celebration in 1918 at the end of the First World War and the raising of the Olympic flag in 1984 (four years before the city hosted the Winter Games).

The rehabilitation was approved by city council in 2015, after the sandstone parts of the building began showing signs of significant deterioration.

The project officially began in 2016 with site stabilization work. Starting in the spring of 2017, the building was covered for three years to protect the sandstone and exposed building elements while work was underway.

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