Description of Historic Place

Royal Bank of Canada Building is a Municipal Heritage Property located within the Town of Wawota occupying two town lots at 104 Main Street. The property features a two-storey, brick building constructed in 1919.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Royal Bank of Canada Building lies in its status as a former bank. Constructed by the Union Bank of Canada in 1919 on a prominent location on Main Street near the railway tracks, the bank was the only financial institution in the town until after World War Two. As such, the bank, occupied a central role in the financial lives of the people in the area. The Union Bank merged with the Royal Bank in 1925 and the building remained a Royal Bank branch until a new building was constructed in 1972. The bank’s façade, constructed out of brick and stone, projected an image of permanence and wealth, while minimizing the threat of fire to financial documents. Reflecting the post-World War One trend toward less ostentations architecture, the building features an extremely subdued façade, highlighted only by the stone sills and lintels and the brick entablature, which tops the slightly recessed bay on the second floor. The structure contains two of the bank vaults including the original safe in the basement and a second safe added to the rear of the building in 1948.

Source:

Town of Wawota Bylaw 2/2005.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Royal Bank of Canada Building resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the building’s former use as a bank, including the brick exterior, subdued brick-and-stone detailing and bank vaults;
-the building’s small rectangular form and limited massing;
-the building’s location on its original position.