Though converted to the Brooklyn Borough Hall upon the consolidation of New York City and Brooklyn in 1898, the Brooklyn Borough Hall first opened as the city hall of Brooklyn in 1848. The plans were set in motion in 1835 after the city received its charter, however it took some time for the actual building to materialize. The architect Calvin Pollard won the design competition for a Greek Revival building on the site, but though construction began in 1836, it was stalled by the panic of 1837. Thus it was only in 1845, after a bond issue was approved by New York State, that Gamaliel King, another Brooklyn architect, was called upon to finish the building. King provided a simplified version of Pollard's design to be built on the hall's foundation. It is this version (following a couple of renovations) that stands today.