Key Number:	HS 4933
Site Name:	Union Bank
Other Names:
Site Type:	0402 - Mercantile/Commercial: Bank

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			52	24	4

Address:	10053 Jasper Avenue
Number:	53
Street:	100
Avenue:	Jasper
Other:
Town:	Edmonton
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:	Renaissance Revival
Plan Shape:	Rectangular Short Facade
Storeys:	Storeys: 3
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Brick
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Flat
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Row, Non-Related, Intermediate Wall Design and Detail: Pier or Pilaster Wall Design and Detail: Entablature Wall Design and Detail: Crenellated Parapet Plain Eaves Roof Trim - Verges: Not Applicable Roof Trim Material - Verges: None Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: Offset Right Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Rear Chimney Stack Material: Brick Chimney Stack Massing: Single Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Semi-Circular Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Voussoirs Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Keystone Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Concrete Window - Sill Type: Plain Slip Sill Window - Sill Material: Metal Window - Number of Sashes: One Window - Opening Mechanism: Fixed Window - Special Types: None Main Entrance - Location: Centre (Facade) Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Wood Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1 Main Entrance - Number of Panels Per Leaf: 1 Main Entrance - Leaves - Special Feature: Glass Main Stairs - Location and Design: None Main Stairs - Direction: None Main Porch - Type: None Main Porch - Special Features: None Main Porch - Material: None Main Porch - Height: None
Exterior:	Pier and spandrel, pilasters, five bays on main facade plain boxed cornices with decorated frieze, slip sills over windows, keystone semi-circular arches pediment broken on bottom end. Arched windows with incised stone surrounds on ground floor; central entry with stone surround and keystone; double height pilasters flanking 2nd 3rd floor windows; pedimented window surrounds; keystones; cornice with dentils; rusticated and arcaded ground floor. A mid-block building, the North West Trust Building has party walls on the east and west, and a purely utilitarian brick facade facing the lane to the south. The main elevation is a Renaissance-inspired composition with some Baroque detail in local pressed red brick and white Bedford limestone from Indiana. The combination of red brick and white stone has close associations with the English Renaissance tradition, going back to Christopher Wren and before. The ground floor is treated as a rusticated base clad entirely in stone, supporting a giant order of six Ionic pilasters which rise through the second and third storeys to carry a simple entablature with a bracketed cornice. Arched windows in the ground floor are aligned with richly framed second and third storey windows set between the pilasters, except in the centre bay on the ground floor where the main entrance is placed. Windows with features similar to those of the second storey can be found in Edward Mountford's Central Criminal Courts (Old Bailey), London (1900-1906), a grand example of Edwardian Baroque. The Union Bank's window treatment shows Baroque influence, as does the entrance portico.
Interior:	Solid mahogany fixtures, tiled floors, stuccoed ceilings, third floor originally included quarters for staff of Bank. Deep beams, florated medallions and columns, mahogany woodwork. Free-standing columns, mahogany fixtures, counters and desks.
Environment:	Neighbourhood: Downtown Row Development. The Union Bank's location at the south end of 100A Street enables it to be the focus of the Rice-Howard Mall despite its small size. Although the Capital Square Building completely failed in its attempt to relate to the Union Bank, the bank building's inclusion in a large development proposed east of it is much more successful and should see it again as a working financial institution. Until recently, the North-West Trust Building has been visible only from close at hand on Jasper Avenue and the visual passage of the Rice Howard Mall. With the demolition of its neighbour to the east, the Northwest Trust Building has gained a greater presence on the block on the east side of Jasper Avenue. Its now highly distinctive style, as well as its low height and congenial street architecture, make the North-West Trust Building a highly visible structure at close hand, and give it a prominent role in the streetscape. These characteristics, and its location terminating the view south along Rice Howard Mall give the building considerable urban design importance.
Condition:	Good
Alterations:	Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Wall Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Window Apparent Alterations and/or Additions: Door Site: Original Windows and doors boarded up. Original entrance was removed and replaced by a much simpler and flatter moulded surround punctuated by an exaggerated keystone similar to those of the window.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started Construction	1909/01/01 1911/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Mercantile/Commercial: Bank Mercantile/Commercial: Bank	1909/01/01 1911/05/04
Owner:	Owner Date:
Hartford Properties The Methodist Church Sidney H. Taylor William T. Henry James Calder Frank M. Gray Union Bank of Canada Canadian Realty Corp. Jas. Richardson & Sons Ltd. North-West Trust Co. Patrician Land Corp.	1887/10/25 1895/04/23 1897/01/05 1902/10/04 1907/10/15 1909/07/08 1911/03/30 1928/05/06 1979/01/01 1982/01/01

Architect:	Roland Lines
Builder:	Endinger & Nesbitt
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	J.J. Anderson was the manager in 1911. R.H. Lacey was manager from Jan. 1925 until amalgamation with the Royal Bank in August 1925. He then became Asst. Manager of the main branch of the Royal Bank at 10023 Jasper Avenue. Built for the Union Bank; newspaper clippings of period indicate it was a departure for bank buildings to have entrance to bank and office at the same place - considered unique. The Royal Bank absorbed the Union Bank in August 1925. 1927 -Referred to as the Union Bank building, owner not listed - occupied by offices, including Cunard Steamship Co. Ltd. 1929 Referred to as the Richardson Building - Sold to James Richardson and Sons Ltd. of Winnipeg. Beside Capital Square building. Cost estimated at $60,000.00 Owner of North West Trust - Dr. C.A. Allard, 9530 Riverside Drive. Described as being of modern renaissance architecture. 'Union Bank # 2' Richardson Building (North West Trust) Events: 1937 - office number 6 occupied by Consumers League of Alberta. 1942 - Louis Trudel - Furrier in # 1. 1969 - Richardson Securities Ltd. moves to 10025 - Jasper Avenue, but 10053 Jasper is still referred to as the Richardson Building. 1970 - Northwest Trust located. Richardson Securities listed as # 4 McCauley Plaza, 10053 Jasper Avenue still referred to as the Richardson Building. 1972 - still listed as Richardson Building Northwest Trust head office located. 1979 - Edmonton Telephones directory lists 10053A Jasper Avenue as the James Richardson Building. ***** UNION BANK The Union Bank building is the only pre-World War I bank remaining in downtown Edmonton. Typically, banks were constructed in a classical style at that period. Ancient Greek or Roman architecture served as pattern for most, but the inspiration for the design of the Union Bank was the Italian Renaissance. The Edmonton Bulletin described it as 'a somewhat new departure in bank buildings in Edmonton.' Telltale features include the rusticated ground floor, the combination of open-bed pediments with oversize keystones above the second floor windows, and the open-topped segmental arch pediment and heavily rusticated pairs of columns which originally framed the entrance. The facade of local pressed brick and Indiana limestone concealed a modern, fire-proof, steel and brick structure. The Union Bank was designed by Edmonton architect Roland Lines, and built in 1910 at a cost of $60,000. It is interesting to compare this building with the contemporary Canada Permanent Building, which was also designed by Lines. *** The North West Trust Building was constructed for the Union Bank of Canada in 1911 for a cost of $60,000. The building was designed by Roland Lines, architect of the Canada Permanent Building. A local firm, Endinger and Nesbitt, were the contractors. At the time of its construction, the building was the Union Bank's major Edmonton branch, and the firm's most important northern branch in Alberta. The Union Bank, with its head office in Quebec, was the first bank established in Alberta, in 1870. The second floor was occupied by Canadian Agencies, and the third floor was designated as bank employees' quarters. On the main floor, the bank's female customers were accommodated in a special room. The Union Bank Building also housed various offices from 1911 to 1927. By 1929, James Richardson and Company bought the building and established their Grain and Stockbrokers business here, as well as leasing out office space. For many years the building was known as the Richardson Building. In 1970, North West Trust established their head office in this building. The bank building symbolizes the early economic boom in Edmonton and is the only remaining pre-World War I banking structure in Edmonton. *** In 1911 Edmonton and Strathcona had reached a total population of just over 31,000. The City was continuing the expansion encouraged by its selection as Provincial capital in 1906. That expansion was to continue over the next few years until the collapse that preceded the outbreak of War in 1914. In 1870 a Quebec based enterprise established the Union Bank in Lethbridge, making it the first bank in the territory that was to become Alberta. It opened an Edmonton branch in 1901, and continued growth over the decade led to the construction of the new Jasper Avenue building. The Union Bank was later taken over by the Royal Bank of Canada. The building's architect, Roland Lines, became a prominent Edmonton architect, within a few years of residence in the city. Born and educated in Britain, he was accepted as a member of the newly formed Alberta Association of Architects in 1906 on the basis of his membership the Society of Architects of London, England. He was chosen President of the A.A.A. in 1913. Lines served in France during the First World War with the First Field Company, Canadian Engineers, and died in 1916. The Union Bank occupied the Jasper Avenue premises from 1911 until 1927, with offices on the upper floors leased to tenants. In 1928 the building was purchased by James Richardson and Company as a local base for their grain trading and stockbroking business. Richardson continued to lease office space on the upper floors. From 1970 the building was the head office of the North-West Trust Company, who bought it in 1979 for $1.9 million. It was subsequently purchased in 1982 by the Patrician Land Corporation as part of a proposed new development. (Due to the changing financial climate Patrician did not proceed with their plans and the building was left without regular occupants, and largely derelict). The Patrician Land Corporation's mortgager foreclosed on the property in 1985. The building has been vacant since 1982, when the North-West Trust Company moved to the IPL Building. *** Originally this was an elaborate piece of architectural theatre. Paired rusticated Tuscan columns raised on pedestals supported an entablature crowned by a broken segmental pediment, which rose to the sill of the second storey window above. The pediment carried the carved coat of arms of the Union Bank. None of this survives in the present building; the ground floor having been altered in a number of important respects. The four ground floor windows each originally consisted of a single large rectangular light from sill to the springing of the arch. The arch was filled by three sashes separated by two mullions to form a Diocletian window, and subdivided into small rectangular and segmental lights. The sills were at normal height with the rusticated stone wall continued below. The lowest course of the wall was brought slightly forward to create a plinth. The alterations extended the window opening to the ground, with a dark coloured spandrel the height of the stone plinth and a single unbroken sheet of glass above to fill the opening. It is unknown how much of the original decor survives behind later ceiling and wall surfaces, but it is apparent that the damage caused by later alterations to the decor and services has left little of the original interior treatment intact. In its present state the building's main interest lies in the Jasper Avenue front. Originally it appears to have had some interior spaces of good quality, with the classical treatment of the facade carried into the interior of the banking hall, characterized by classical columns and entablatures and woodwork in mahogany. With the absence of these, only the exterior (which has been altered) continues to represent the architect's original intentions, at least for the upper floors. *** The North West Trust Building was constructed by the Union Bank of Canada in 1911. For many years the building was known as the Richardson Building. In 1970, North West Trust established their head office in this building. *** 1870 - Quebec based Union Bank establishes first bank in territory that was later Alberta, in Lethbridge. 1901 - Bank builds Jasper Avenue location, designed by Roland Lines. 1911 - Bank occupies the premises. 1927 - Bank moves out of building. 1928 - Building bought by James Richardson and Company. 1970 - Building houses the head office of the North-West Trust Company. 1979 - Building purchased by North-West Trust Co. for $1.9 million. North-West Co. vacates building and moves to the IPL Building. 1982 - Building purchased by Patrician Land Corporation for $3.8 million. Building vacant. 1985 - Building foreclosed on by present owners. 1991 - Building vacant. * * * UNION BANK BUILDING (1910) Recession Stopped Project Plans The Derelict Union Bank Building, one of the few bank buildings in Edmonton predating the First World War, is probably better know as the former home of the North West Trust Company. The classic structure was built for $60,000 in 1910 to house the Union Bank of Canada. It was also home to several other financial institutions until the early 1980s when it was abandoned by the North West Trust for the modern confines of the IPL Building. Little remains of the building's original elegant decor. Some of the ornate first floor ceiling with dentilled moldings could be glimpsed through gaps in a lower tiled ceiling. Only the third floor escaped the veneer office decor that replaced the original mahogany and oak. An old oak staircase leads to a number of rooms, former offices with oak doors and overhead transoms. One features a brick fireplace. The building was destined for redevelopment in Alberta's energy-based economic boom. But the boom ended before its owners, Patrician Land Corporation, could get their plans for a 38-storey office building to first base. Patrician was owned by Peter Pocklington. One of the architects commissioned for the office tower project was David Murray. He said in a 1985 interview that the project would have fully integrated the old Union Bank facade and offset the tower so that it didn't compete with the old building front. Murray called it 'one of the most perfect facades of its kind in the city.' Alberta Culture has also expressed interest in designating the facade. The North West Trust Building was designed for the Union Bank by architect Roland Lines, whose other credits included the Canada Permanent Building, the original Royal Alexandra Hospital, and Norwood and Alex Taylor schools. The exterior design is derived from Renaissance Revival architecture, with Ionic pilasters, and a base of solid Bedford stone from Indiana, complemented with pressed red brick. An imposing entrance was mounted with the bank's coat of arms. The Union Bank of Canada, with headquarters in Quebec City, had purchased the land for its future building for $50,000 from Frank M. Gray in June 1909. Gray had paid $1,000 for the property eight years before. The building was purchased by The Canadian Realty Corporation for $121,554 in 1911. James Richardson and Sons Limited bought it for the devalued sum of $90,000 in 1928. That firm owned it until 1979, when it was purchased by North West Trust for $1.9 million. North West Trust sold it to Patrician Land Corporation for $3.1 million in 1982. Patrician then took out a $3.8 million mortgage with North West Trust. In addition, Morguard Trust Company has a second mortgage of $3.1 million in 1982. Patrician then took out a $3.8 million on the building to protect its interest in the possible redevelopment of the site. In 1984, Morguard filed a $46 million writ of execution on the building because of Patrician's failure to pay mortgages on other unrelated properties. North West Trust foreclosed upon the building in August 1985. It was then acquired by Hartford Properties.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal A List

Register:	A53

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: