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This imposing edifice is the main location for the government of Jersey City. The concept of a blend of architectural styles and the implementation in granite and marble were the plan of Lewis Broome (also the designer of the Trenton Statehouse). In 1894, the citizens witnessed the laying of the cornerstone; the completion of construction was in 1896. A central feature of the plaza is the bronze monument by Philip Martiny. The memorial contains an inscription: "Erected by the People of Hudson County to Commemorate the Valor of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the Civil War." The statue depicts a mythological Victory. As if wearied by a great travail, she is in a seated pose. A shield is off to the side, yet one hand still rests in readiness on a sword. Victory holds high not the head of a vanquished foe, but, rather, an olive branch. The structure's center tower and square corners once sported forty-foot tall brass cupolas. Concern for the public safety required their removal in 1955. A fire in 1979 destroyed the roof and three of the five decorative friezes. The two damaged friezes on the southern and southwestern pediments underwent restoration in 1995.