Description of Historic Place

The Royal Bank Building, erected in 1902, is a noble two-storey brick structure on the northern edge of Roland. The municipal designation applies to the building and its lot.

Heritage Value

The Royal Bank Building, originally a branch of the Bank of Hamilton with employee living space on the upper floor, is significant as an early rural financial institution that was vital to the development of the agricultural community around Roland. The structure's masterful, elegant design flows from the image the bank wished to display, using dignified materials, such as brick, in a straightforward composition to portray progress, prosperity, stability and security, qualities that could both attract and reassure customers. The building's angled corner not only gave it a distinguishing, identifiable feature, but also facilitated access for prospective customers from the two fronting streets. The building now holds the Roland 4-H Museum, which recalls the community's role in initiating rural boys and girls clubs across Canada, beginning in 1913.

Source: Rural Municipality of Roland By-law No. 13/89, July 11, 1989

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Royal Bank Building site include:
- the bank's prominent corner lot at the intersection of 3rd Street and Pacific Avenue in Roland

Key elements that define the bank's dignified exterior style include:
- the boxy massing featuring a truncated front corner and a flat roof
- the substantial red brick facades set upon a slightly exposed fieldstone foundation and divided into bays by wide pilasters capped with smooth-cut limestone ornamentation
- the tall rectangular windows throughout, in singles, pairs and banks of three, with limestone sills and lintels
- the details, including a substantial wooden cornice underscored by a decorative brick stringcourse and painted to contrast with the brick, a continuous smooth-cut limestone belt course incorporating the lintels of the upper-floor windows, etc.

Key elements that define the bank's practical interior details and finishes include:
- the formal plan with the main floor composed of a large room holding an office along the front wall and the second floor divided into smaller rooms
- the main floor's high ceilings and intact vault
- the wooden staircase off the rear entrance with a simply carved balustrade
- the details, including the wood plank floors, the wooden doors, especially the large and striking vestibule doors with transoms, the main floor with wide oak trim around the doors and windows, the more basic moulding elsewhere, etc.