Description of Historic Place

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Watson is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying a lot on the corner of Main Street and 1st Avenue in Watson. The property features a two-and-a-half-storey prefabricated wood building assembled in 1906-7.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Watson resides in its architecture. This building is one of a series of prefabricated buildings the Bank of Commerce assembled in small communities before 1911 as a means of quickly opening branches that possessed the stylistic qualities of the company’s other buildings. They were designed by the Toronto Architectural firm of Darling and Pearson and manufactured by the British Columbia Mills, Timber and Trading Company. With its grand pediment and oriel window, fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals and a cornice with dentils, the building incorporates Beaux-Arts Classical elements common to Bank of Commerce branches from the period. Banks used architecture to create a corporate brand and project an image of stability and permanence, important to marketing new branches.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Watson is also important as a prominent building and a landmark in the community. Located on the corner of Main Street and 1st Avenue, the bank is one of the oldest buildings in Watson. Bank branches became powerful symbols of civic prosperity during the settlement period due to their role in the developing local economy.

Source:

Town of Watson Bylaw No. 1-82.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Watson resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the Beaux-Arts Classical style employed by the Bank of Commerce, such as the fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals, oriel window, pediment roof, symmetrical window arrangement, the curved split pediment and the carved-wood elements flanking the entrance;
-those elements reflecting the bank’s association with the community, such as the “Bank of Commerce” signage, the building’s size, massing and orientation on its original lot.