Key Number:	HS 62590
Site Name:	Merchants Bank of Canada
Other Names:
Site Type:	0402 - Mercantile/Commercial: Bank

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			23	1	5

Address:	121 - 8 Avenue SW
Number:	21
Street:	1 SW
Avenue:	8 SW
Other:
Town:	Calgary
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular
Storeys:	Storeys: 2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Stone
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Flat
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	Dimensions: about 25 x 55 (1975) 33 x 150 (1978) 24 x 114 (1980) Structure: sandstone block, coursed and smooth dressed with continuous string courses of rustication on first storey. Covering: none; north elevation has metal on parapet and terrazzo on foundation. north elevation: sandstone - smooth dressed; south elevation: common bond brick; north elevation: semi-elliptical window with radiating fan design, and mullions in form of engaged columns, rustication in radiating design around semi-elliptical and circular windows. 2 string courses with relief moulding between storeys; cornice with dentils and frieze. Tin parapet and modillioned cornice; plain sandstone frieze rectangular segmental windows, sandstone surround. Decorative pattern on main floor sandstone; large arched bay window. Concrete foundation, stone and brick frame, sandstone and brick exterior, flat roof, air conditioning.
Interior:	Terrazzo tile in entrance. Rest is plaster, lino, tile with oak trim. Fully developed basement.
Environment:	Lot size: 25 x 130. Located on Pedestrian Mall (8th Avenue Mall); highly commercial area.
Condition:	Good (1980)
Alterations:	Extensive renovations in 1952.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started Second floor added	1889/01/01 1905/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Bank - Merchants Bank of Canada Offices/Yorkshire Trust Company	1903/01/01 1980/02/21
Owner:	Owner Date:
Thomas Oxendale Critchley Walter Ashton Paget Critchley Joseph Pike of Dunsland, Glammire Co. Alberta Investment Ltd. Merchants Bank of Canada Bank of Canada City of Calgary	1889/09/12 1890/12/02 1891/11/10 1903/04/09 1903/04/18 1936/10/26 1970/11/04

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	The exact date of construction is uncertain. The 1902-1903 - Henderson's directory has it listed as the Criterion Dining Hall. However, a party-wall agreement has it dating from 1889 between Thomas Critchley (the owner of the property) and George Jacques. In 1891 - another party-wall agreement was made between Critchley and Joseph Pike. 1903 - The Merchants Bank took possession. 1936 - The Bank of Canada took control. In 1970 - the City of Calgary assumed ownership of the building. (The name of the Merchants Bank was changed to Bank of Canada in 1929.) 'The Criterion Building recently purchased by the Merchant's Bank for $8,750; will be raised another storey and greatly improved.' I.E.W. McMullen was manager in 1910. 1903 - Merchants Bank occupied building. Occupied by the bank of Canada at one time. Trust Company now occupies this building. * * * Henderson's Directories: 1884 - no mention 1902 - no mention, however there is listed 'The Union Bank' 1906 - 'Merchants' Bank of Canada, R.J. Gazcor, mgr. 1910 - Merchants' Bank of Canada. Duk R.T. Co. Nichols Savarz barristes 1912 - Merchants Bank of Canada Victor Emanual A. archt Federal Life Assurance Co. 1915 - Headquarters 82 Batt Canadian Patriotic Fund (south Alberta) 1920 - Asst. Receiver - General's Office Dept of Labor (Canada) Director of Coal Operations Dept. of Public Works (Canada) 1925 - Asst Receiver - General's Office Dept of Public Works (Canada) 1928-29 - Asst. Receiver - General's Office Public Works Dept. Chas Sellins, res archt. 1930 - Asst Receiver - General's Office Dept. of Public Works (Canada) Immigration Colonization Dept. 1935 - Bank of Canada Dept of Public Works (Canada 1940 - Bank of Canada 1945 - ' 1949 - ' 1954 - ' Seabridge Investments Duke Drillings Co. Ltd. 1960 - Bank of Canada (bldg ' ' Royal Trust Co. 1965 - Bank of Canada * * * The Merchants' Bank bought the property where this building is located from J. Pike and Mary C.Critchley in 1903. City assessment files indicate that, at the time of sale, there were whether two small buildings valued at $2,000 and $1,000, or one larger building valued at $3,000 on the lot. The distinction is not clear in the assessment files. However, Henderson's Directory does reveal that only one building was located at the address prior to the Merchants' Bank's purchase. (That building being the Criterion Block where the Criterion Restaurant was located). In 1904, the value of the building located on the property is listed as $2,000, in the city assessment files. The following year, 1905, shows a building assessed at $8,000, indicating that a newer and more expensive building had been placed on the lot. * * * MERCHANTS BANK OF CANADA This site was first occupied by the Criterion (English Club Rooms) Dining Hall in 1889. In 1903 the single storey building was purchased by the Merchants Bank of Canada which spent almost $9,000 to raise the building by another storey, remodel the facade, and refit the interior. The bank was designed by the Merchants Bank of Canada's corporate architects, Taylor, Hogle and Davis of Montreal who were responsible for most of the bank's buildings. (Andrew Taylor also designed the 1889 Bank of Montreal building on the site of the present-day Bank of Montreal. Delightful in scale and elegant in detail, this two-storey sandstone structure is the earliest surviving example in Calgary of Classical Revival bank architecture, the style of choice for most of Canada's chartered banks until the 1930s. The facade features a large segmental arch surrounding a central window, as well as two occuli. A balustrade caps the decorative cornice. The Merchants Bank did not stay long in this building; in 1914 it moved to a larger building (now demolished) on the south-east corner of 8th Avenue and Centre street SE. In 1915, during WWI, this building became the headquarters of the 82nd Battalion and the Canadian Patriotic Fund. Later, it was the office of the Assistant Receiver General, as well as that of the Department of Labour, before being purchased by the Bank of Canada. The building was designated a Municipal Historic Resource in 1993.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal A List Municipal Historic Resource

Register:	01-129

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4664-0007