Description of Historic Place

The Old Bank of Commerce is a Municipal Heritage Property prominently situated on two commercial lots in the community of Vonda. The property features a one-and-a-half storey, wood-frame building clad in stucco.

Heritage Value

The Old Bank of Commerce is valued for its association with the establishment of commerce in the Vonda district. The current building was built in 1906, one year before Vonda was incorporated as a village. Banks were important institutions in early prairie towns as farmers and businessmen required credit to operate. The building’s prominent, main street location and distinct architectural style conveyed a sense of corporate stability to the bank’s clientele.

The Old Bank of Commerce is also valued for its architecture. This building is an uncommon example of the prefabricated buildings the Bank of Commerce assembled in western Canada prior to 1911. The building’s architecture incorporates Georgian Revival elements such as dormer windows, a hipped roof and an open verandah on the front of the building that is adorned with wooden pilasters and Roman columns. The front of the building is also adorned with a dentiled cornice. It is one of the few Bank of Commerce buildings of this style remaining in Saskatchewan.

Source:

Town of Vonda Bylaw 2-83.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the old Bank of Commerce resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that speak to the bank’s association with the foundation of commerce in the community, such as its orientation on its original lot, the brick vault, original service counter and fireplace;
-those elements that speak to the architecture, such as the hipped roof with dormer windows and open verandah across the entire front of the building including the wood shingles, its single pilasters and paired roman columns, and the cornice with simple dentils.