Albany City Hall - Current City Hall

Current City Hall

Following the 1880 fire, Henry Richardson quickly secured the commission for the replacement city hall after a limited competition between six architects and architectural firms. Richardson had been a frequent visitor to Albany over the prior four years, having been one of the lead architects on the state capitol. The budget was limited to $185,000; Richardson's design came in at $184,000. However the appointed public committee upped the price to $204,000 after granite was substituted for brownstone in the design. The new city hall design dates from the period that is typically regarded as Richardson's architectural peak. His design was similar to his other designs done in his unique Romanesque style. Architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock described city hall as "one of Richardson's most Romanesque designs" and the building's NRHP nomination added: "Albany City Hall's banded arches, rhythmic fenestration, bold expression of materials and corner placement of the tower are characteristic features of Richardson's work often to be repeated by his followers."

The building is a load-bearing masonry design laid out in a rectangle, with a 202-foot (62 m) tall, Venetian-style tower on its southwest corner topped with a pyramidal roof. The main structure is three-and-a-half stories tall and the front (west) face is nine bays wide. The exterior walls are rusticated Milford (Rhode Island) granite with Longmeadow (Massachusetts) brownstone trim. Save for the bold asymmetrical placement of the tower (which is a prime example of Richardson's disregard for architectural correctness and known for being one of his best tower designs), the building is noted for its general simplicity in design. The entranceway is a simple triple-arch loggia; other design elements on the front façade are limited to its windows and a quadruple-arch balcony off the Common Council chamber. The building is simultaneously noted for its general simplicity and care for small details, especially its intricate carvings. The entranceway is flanked by multiple tiers of relief sculpture and gargoyles. Most of the stone cutters originally brought to Albany to work on the capitol were later hired to do the sculptural details on city hall.

Many elements of the exterior design are representations of interior functionality. Because the Common Council chamber is located on the second floor (above the entrance), that story is the same height as the first-floor entrance hall. The tower is essentially window-less because it was meant to be the city archive; a round staircase extends up the southeast corner of the tower for access. The short tower on the building's southeast corner was originally meant to be the transition between city hall and the (to-be built) jail, complete with a "bridge of sighs" to transport inmates straight from their cells in the jail to the court rooms in city hall.

Due to lack of funds at the time (the building's initial budget doubled, ending up at $325,000 including furnishings), Richardson devoted most of his efforts to the building's exterior. A report from the Times Union states, "There wasn't enough money for Richardson to do the job as thoroughly as he would have liked. He said in his writing that if there wasn't sufficient money, he'd rather do it right on the outside and leave it to a future generation to finish the interior. The interior was finished by city architects a good 30 years after Richardson built it." The interior was redesigned by Ogden and Gander in 1917. The mayor's office is on the first floor of the tower, the Council chamber and offices are on the building's second floor, and the city clerk's office is on the second floor of the tower. The mayor's office contains a painting of the city's first mayor, Pieter Schuyler.

In 1927, a carillon was added to the tower; it contained sixty bells (though it could produce only 47 different notes since top notes have double bells) made by John Taylor & Co in England. Financed by public donations (from upwards of 25,000 people), it cost $63,000 and was the first municipal carillon in the United States. In 1986 Mayor Thomas Whalen had the carillon restored, which included replacing 30 bells and adding two notes to its repertoire. The 49 bells weigh 27 short tons (24,000 kg). The largest bell is 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) in diameter and weighs 10,953 pounds (4,968 kg). The carillon is still in use and plays multiple concerts during the week.

The clock faces on the tower were added in the 1920s, possibly around the time the carillon was added. The 1897 image of the city hall above shows the tower without the clock faces (though the stonework shows obvious intent to have clock faces installed). City hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 4, 1972.