Belding City Hall

On April 1, 1912, the citizens of Belding voted to issue a $15,000 bond to build a new city hall. At the time, the city jail was housed in an old barn and the dilapidated building rented by the city as a firehouse was called a “burning shame.” Belding was then a growing city made prosperous by the silk industry. Dedicated on Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day) 1913, the new City Hall consolidated local services into a modern building. This Classical Revival brick and sandstone building was designed by the Grand Rapids based architectural firm Osgood and Osgood. City Hall has housed numerous social and civic functions, including local Civil War veterans organized in Dan S. Root Post 126 of the Grand Army of the Republic. Rebuilt after a devastating 1893 fire, Belding’s downtown featured brick paved streets lined by service, retail and entertainment store-fronts. Between 1970 and 1972 most of the downtown and all but one block of Main Street, around sixty buildings, were razed to provide space for parking and a modern shopping plaza. Belding City Hall was one of the few historic downtown buildings to survive this urban renewal effort. The early 1970s also saw City Hall’s interior remodeled, and in 1973 the fire department annex was added to the east side of the building. City Hall, with its fine interior details, including white oak trim and pressed-tin wall and ceiling panels, remains Belding’s most visible testament to the community’s past.