The three-storey Beaux Arts commercial building at the corner of West Hastings and Carrall Streets is having its century-old bones surgically repaired. An exhaustive restoration initiative of the Merchants Bank building in Gastown will prominently feature a reclaimed limestone facade and heritage elements mixed with a modern tinge. More recently, the building has become the backdrop to impassioned rallies and rampant drug activity at the bordering Pioneer Place, more widely known colloquially as Pigeon Park. Standing strong amid precarious socioeconomic conditions, the Gastown landmark was a historic achievement right from the beginning.

The Canadian Pacific Railway spur is the cause for the building's angled facade, image via City of Vancouver Archives

Montreal's Merchants Bank arrived in Vancouver in 1906, settling their office at 337 Carrall Street in the heart of the city's commercial and industrial epicentre. Just seven years later, the company moved to the purpose-built branch at 1 West Hastings Street, digging their heels into an area that the city's wealth and business begun to fall out of love with.

The building in 1972, image via City of Vancouver Archives

Built in the 'temple bank' style that was popular in the east coast, the design by Somervell and Putnam negotiated the Canadian Pacific Railway spur with a curved facade. Internally, the steel frame was strong enough to support an additional four to seven storeys, though the demand was never there to satisfy those ambitions. When the rail tracks were moved in 1931, Pioneer Place was born.

Restoration work comes close to an end, image by Forum contributor Roundabout

The building's granite cladding, pilasters, and highly decorative frieze were exposed to decades of grit that gradually took its toll. Chunks of stonework were reportedly falling off the building in 2014, forcing the popular park next door to temporarily close. The renovation, slowly being unveiled to the public, heals the downtrodden building and returns it to its celebrated former glory. 

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