Carl Zehr Square outside City Hall was built in 1993. We’re repairing, retrofitting or replacing the infrastructure to make it more durable and functional for the future.

On this page:

  1. Project overview
  2. Construction schedule

Project overview

The City Hall Outdoor Spaces Rehabilitation Project is the plan to improve infrastructure components at the site and surrounding streets and modernize the functionality and accessibility of the space.

In February 2020, council awarded a tender for the project. We’re repairing the parking garage waterproofing membrane, drainage infrastructure and surface paving. We will replace the ice rink and water feature.

Review these documents for more information:


Construction schedule

This project has two phases.

Phase one

Renovations to Carl Zehr Square and its water feature were completed in summer 2022:

  • the water feature operates as a splash pad from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. daily
  • from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., it operates as a wading pool
  • the fountain shuts off at 10:30 p.m. nightly

Remaining work around Carl Zehr Square and along College Street will be complete by the end of August 2022. 

Phase two

The second phase of the project is scheduled to finish June 2023. This work includes:

  • removal of concrete sidewalks along Duke Street to replace the parking garage waterproofing
  • removal of deteriorating granite at the base of the wall along Duke Street
  • the scaffolding installed the corner of Duke and College is a measure to protect the IT servers as we remove the existing waterproofing.