Landmark Building
MERCHANTS BANK OF CANADA
5005 -50 (formerly Barnett) Avenue, Lacombe
Built in 1904
'); "Merchants Bank of Canada")
A small wood frame building stood on this site as early as 1895. Though the function of that early building is not recorded, photographs show that the harness shop of C. Halberg was located here in 1903 when the property was acquired by the Merchants Bank of Canada.
The bank had first opened for business in Lacombe in 1901, and in the following years it doubtless reaped large benefits from being the town's only banking institution. In fact, it was not until about 1907 that competition in the form of the Union Bank encroached on the exclusivity of the Merchants Bank. The somewhat incongruous grandeur of the bank erected on this site in 1904 can be attributed, in part at least, to the very advantageous position held by this lone bank in a rapidly growing town.
The Merchants Bank was certainly Lacombe's most sophisticated and commanding structure. Designed in the Beaux Arts tradition of classically-inspired architecture, it stood head and shoulders above its neighbours – both physically and stylistically. There were, after all, only two other brick buildings in Lacombe at the time: Day's Block (number 12), and the Corner Business Block. The rest were wood frame buildings of generally more modest dimensions and pretentions. After the fire of 1906, which left the Merchants Bank standing alone on the block, a more sophisticated townscape arose from the ashes. Brick, stone and cement replaced wood, and a unified urban appearance evolved on 50th Avenue. Even so the three and a half stories of the Merchants Bank loomed above and dominated the scene.
The bank's design takes advantage of its almost triangular 'flatiron' corner site and even though it is relatively small, the Merchants Bank building projects a feeling of weight, size and importance. This effect is created in the Beaux-Arts Style by using heavy-looking decorative elements at the bottom of the building, gradually diminishing the visual weight in progressing up the structure, and capping it with a final "heavy" feature. In this case, rusticated stonework provides a heavy base, coursed brick resembling inscribed ashlar in the raised first floor appears somewhat lighter, giant order pilasters soar through the second and third storeys, and a heavy denticulated cornice caps the design. A final decorative touch is provided by the scallop-shaped hood over the main entrance in the corner of the building.
The Merchants Bank branch in Lacombe represents the significant investment of $30,000, a considerable sum in 1904. Despite the large amount spent on the building, and the advantage of having been the town's first bank, the Merchants Bank fell victim to the same trend which also claimed the Union Bank next door. This time it was the Bank of Montreal which, in 1922, purchased the Merchants Bank, replacing it in this and all its other branches throughout western Canada.
The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Historical Walking and Driving Tour: Lacombe. Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism Historic Sites Service and the Maski-Pitoon Historical Society of Lacombe, n.d., with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.