A disregard for local building codes had deadly consequences on January 3, 1898. Hundreds of Londoners gathered on the second floor of City Hall, then located on Richmond St. just south of Dundas, to hear the municipal election results. In the midst of the celebrations, a loud crack sounded throughout the building: a support beam had snapped, and the second floor collapsed. Renovations in earlier years had ignored newly implemented building regulations, and the second floor couldn't support the weight. People fell through the floor and landed, ironically, in the city engineer's office. Many were crushed, by both the falling citizens and the 500-pound safe that was formerly housed on the second floor. In all, about 23 people died and 150 were injured.

Read below to learn more about the City Hall Collapse.

London passed its first building bylaw in 1893. Yet, when Mayor John Little renovated the first floor of City Hall a few years later, in 1888, he did so with little regard for building regulations. A wall on the first floor was removed and a 12-inch-thick wooden beam was installed to support the large room above.

On election night, 1898, hundreds of Londoners – mostly men, as they were the ones who could vote – gathered at City Hall to hear local election results. Dr. John D. Wilson won the mayoralty, and people surrounded the podium to cheer him on. The final speaker of the night, Mr. Toothe, went up to the podium to give his speech around 10 pm. In their excitement, people were cheering, stamping their feet, and jumping up and down. Following a loud cracking noise, the floor sank and then gave way completely. London's citizens fell to the floor below, followed by a 500-pound safe and a steam radiator. People were crushed in the aftermath. 23 Londoners died and 150 were injured.

The people fell into the centre of the office of the city engineer.

A vacant store next door was used as a makeshift hospital. Common injuries included broken bones and internal and external bruising. Lists of the dead and injured flooded local newspapers and eyewitness accounts provided graphic descriptions of the collapse. Queen Victoria sent her condolences from England. One of the men who died in the accident was shoemaker John Burridge, who survived the SS Victoria Disaster 17 years earlier, but succumbed to the collapse.

Unfortunately, little was done to enforce local building bylaws following the disaster. It wasn't until the Reid's Crystal Hall Disaster of 1907 that Londoners began to take building codes seriously.

Sources:

Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library, London, Ontario, Canada.

London Free Press (London, ON), Jan. 5, 1898.

London Advertiser (London, ON), Jan. 4, 1898.

McTaggart, Kenneth. London's Darkest Hours. London, Ontario. 1999.