The Capitol Terrace Parking Garage at Eighth and Idaho Streets sits where the former Boise City Hall once stood, designed by German architect James C. Paulsen and completed in 1893.

The City Hall building at 8th and Idaho often became the center of town celebrations and special events. In 1901, Boiseans placed a white “memorial arch” dedicated to President William McKinley, and held a memorial parade in his honor. A historic photograph taken on July 4, 1905 depicts a Fourth of July parade passing City Hall down Idaho Street. In September 1942, a “Victory House,” a vehicle selling war bonds, parked outside City Hall, and in October 1944, the exhibition of a Japanese “suicide submarine” took place at the corner.

The city put the old City Hall building up for sale in June 1948. Mayor Potter P. Howard stated that City Hall had outgrown the building, so they moved to a temporary building at Sixth and Bannock. In July 1949, a fountain located in front of the building on 8th and Idaho was removed and placed in Capitol Park for preservation purposes. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union gave the fountain to the city in 1910. In 1951, the old building became a canteen for Boise servicemen after sitting empty for about three years. In 1953, wrecking crews began dismantling the building. Immediate plans for the space called for a temporary parking lot while tenants signed up for space in a permanent structure. For years after knocking down the old City Hall, Skagg’s Drug Store occupied the corner.