Near the City of Amherst is the Amherst Red Stone Quarry, which supplied red sandstone to the construction industry throughout the Maritimes and Ontario from 1889 to 1914. Given its proximity, sandstone from that quarry was used in the construction of the majority of large religious and commercial buildings in Amherst, the Bank of Montreal being a prime example.
Designed by well known architect J. C. Dumaresq, the building exhibits a blend of Classical Revival and Romanesque Revival styles. The overall appearance of the façade in particular states that "This is a Bank", solid, strong, a building in which one could place their trust - exactly the impression a bank wishes to convey to prospective customers.
Over the years, the building has housed first the Bank of Montreal, followed by Central Trust, government offices and the town police force, the final tenant that vacated the premises in the mid-1990s.
The building is a Municipal Heritage Property and the town, which now owns it, has tried at length to find a cost effective use for it but, sadly, it appears that we find ourselves writing yet another Heritage Property obituary. Their final decision on the disposition of the old bank building was to apply to have it deregistered then
demolished. How long this process could take we known not, so it seems that the bank's days and weeks are numbered.
When the Halifax Chronicle Herald picked up on the story they ran a short article on it in their April 22, 2015 issue. It is reproduced below.
Historic Amherst bank building
to be demolished
FRANCIS CAMPBELL TRURO BUREAU
Published April 22, 2015 - 7:49am
Another century-old Amherst building appears to have a date with the wrecking ball.
Spurred by the results of a community group survey, town council voted unanimously to move ahead with plans to destroy the 107-year-old Bank of Montreal building at the corner of Victoria Street East and Laplanche Street.
“We’ve done everything we can in the last year to figure out a way to use that building, but we just don’t have a use,” Mayor Robert Small said. “There were lots of ideas, just nobody with any money.”
Over the years, the building has housed BMO, Central Trust, government offices and the town police force, the final tenant that vacated in the mid-1990s. The building is a provincially registered heritage property and the town, which now owns it, must apply to Culture and Heritage Minister Tony Ince to have it deregistered.
“If we do get permission, council has made a decision to proceed with demolition,” Small said.
If it is brought to dust and rubble, it will share that fate with the old West Highlands Elementary School that opened its doors in 1912 and closed earlier this year.
From the Halifax Chronicle Herald