City Hall is a historic

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

in Chicopee,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Located in the heart of Chicopee at Market Square, the building (built 1871) is in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style, with a rose window (usually associated with churches) and a tower modeled on that of the

Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It was designed by

Charles Edward Parker Charles Edward Parker (1826–1890) was an American architect from Boston, Massachusetts. Life and career After growing up in Keene, New Hampshire, Parker moved to Boston in the 1840s, where he worked for architect Gridley J. F. Bryant. Around ...

History and architecture

Chicopee purchased land from the

Ames Manufacturing Company Ames Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of swords, tools, and cutlery in Chicopee, Massachusetts, as well as an iron and bronze foundry. They were a significant provider of side arms, swords, light artillery, and heavy ordnance for the Uni ...

in 1869 as a site for its new city hall, and a committee of leading citizens was established to oversee its design and construction. The committee selected Charles E. Parker of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to design the new building, and construction took place in 1871. Parker's design was modelled on the

, the historic town hall of

Tuscany, Italy Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. The building was dedicated on December 21, 1871. By far the most prominent feature of the building is its tower, similar to its Florentine inspiration. It is topped by a golden

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

statue weighing and having a wingspan. The tower houses a bell, which was historically used on public occasions and to announce fire alarms. A clock mechanism was added in 1888, with faces on three of the tower's four sides. The civic building is unusual for having a rose window, usually associated with churches and finished in stained glass. The building continues to be used for city offices. The police station was originally located in the basement, but was moved in 1929 to a newly constructed annex before later being moved to the Chicopee Falls section of the city where it presently shares its own complex with the Chicopee Fire Department. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1974. As of 2020 the City Hall is undergoing a major external renovation project.

References

External links

City Hall history
by the City of Chicopee {{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Chicopee Buildings and structures in Chicopee, Massachusetts Chicopee National Register of Historic Places in Chicopee, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Hampden County, Massachusetts Government buildings completed in 1871 Romanesque Revival architecture in Massachusetts

History and architecture

See also

References

External links