Description of Historic Place

The Elgin Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, completed in ca. 1904, is a small brick commercial structure on Main Street in Elgin. The municipal designation applies to the building, now a museum, and its grounds.

Heritage Value

The Elgin Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is representative of the functional bank branches established in rural service centres across the Prairies in the early 1900s. The building's prominent corner location, solid brick construction, restrained detailing and well-lit banking hall were typical of the features employed by chartered banks to woo customers and convey an image of quiet corporate strength and reliability. As the village's only bank, the CIBC held an important place in the financial life of local residents and surrounding farm community until its closure in 1995. It is now the only structure that remains from the many commercial buildings erected in Elgin's business district in the early twentieth century.

Source: Rural Municipality of Whitewater By-law No. 411, June 15, 1998

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Elgin Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building site include:
- its corner location on Elgin's Main Street and placement, facing south, flush with the sidewalk

Key elements that define the building's exterior character include:
- the compact rectangular massing, with a flat roof and a vault at the rear (north)
- the brick construction featuring a series of connected drip mouldings along the front and east sides that mimic the segmental arches over the windows and main entrance
- the practical fenestration, including a wide rectangular front window and tall rectangular openings on the east side
- the recessed entrance set above street level, with a double-paned transom window above the door, a wood plank platform, tongue-and-groove wood panels and a window in the east wall

Key elements that define the building's interior heritage character and banking function include:
- the front office space delineated by walls of oak with glass panels, including some panes of pebbled glass
- the spacious vault with its heavy black iron door
- features such as the painted wood trim and solid wood doors and the basement staircase with wooden stairs and wood-panelled walls