Northern Bank

General Information

Type of Resource: Building
Common Name: Steveston Museum
Address: 3811 Moncton Street
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Steveston
Construction Date: 1906
Current Owner: Municipal Government
Designated: Yes

Statement of Significance

Description of Site

Constructed in 1906, the Northern Bank building is a two-storey front gabled structure that sits flush with the street. Located on a prominent corner in the busy commercial area of Steveston, the former bank is now home to the Steveston Museum and a post office outlet.

Statement of Values

The heritage value of the Northern Bank building is due in part to its historic role as part of an almost-continuous façade of simple, wood frame buildings along Moncton Street. The building is one of the earliest surviving structures in Steveston, and one of the first financial operations in the area. The building is oriented and built flush to the street, emphasizing the flow of pedestrian traffic which would have occurred along Steveston’s main street. It forms part of the pattern of commercial development which characterized Steveston in the early part of the twentieth century, as the area boomed in population and economic wealth from farming and fishing. The Northern Bank building is also significant as an excellent example of an early pre-fabricated building with classical detailing which adds a sense of importance in its function as a financial institution. It is an area landmark due to its corner location and its building style.

Character Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include: · Characteristics of its style, including a front gable bellcast roof, hip dormers with bellcast roof, turned columns at the street edge, wood shingles on gable ends and dormer, and the beveled siding. · The nature of its construction, a prefabricated building ordered and assembled on site. · The height, scale, colour and massing of the building. · Its orientation to Moncton Street and the boardwalk surface at the sidewalk edge. · Its landmark status in a prominent corner location. · Its presence as part of the historical development form of the street which creates a diverse, articulated edge and a sense of enclosure, and its contribution to the liveliness and diversity of the area.

History

The building was originally constructed by J.P. Roberts, on land purchased from Mrs. C.T. Booth, to house a branch of the Winnipeg-based Northern Bank. Other branches of the Northern Bank were located in Vancouver, New Westminster and Victoria. The Crown Bank, with its head office in Toronto, amalgamated with the Northern Bank in 1908, and both were absorbed by the Royal Bank of Canada in 1918. The Royal Bank operated its Steveston branch until 1963 when the property was sold to a Mr. Clay. In 1967, the building was purchased by Dr. J. Campbell who used it as a medical office. In 1978, it was acquired by the Township of Richmond, and following restoration by the municipality and the Steveston Historical Society, it opened as the Steveston Museum in 1979. Canada Post currently operates a postal outlet within the Museum. This history illustrates the growth of monopoly capitalism in the banking world in the West, and is associated with the rise of financial institutions in parallel to the rise of prosperity in the agricultural and resource industries.

Architectural Significance

Architectural Style

Prefabricated with Turned Columns

Building Type

Financial Institution

Name of Architect or Builder

B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Company, New Westminster, name of actual designer unknown

Design Features

The Steveston Museum is a prefabricated building with six turned columns added to the front facade. It is constructed of short ends of beveled siding assembled into panels and bolted together, with the joints covered by vertical battens. These battens give a modular structure to the main floor, a clue to the construction method of the building. The building features a bell cast roof and hipped bell cast dormers, with the columns creating an open front verandah at grade. Double-hung wooden sash windows are located the side elevations and on either side of the doorway, which is set slightly to one side in the front facade. This may be due to irregularity in the prefabricated panels. Double hung windows are also located in the gables and dormers on the second floor, with the upper panel of these a twelve-paned pattern. There is wooden shingles on the gable ends and the dormers, while the roof is wooden shingles. The building is painted red and yellow with white detailing.

Construction Method

The Steveston Museum building is an example of a prefabricated construction process developed by the B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Company and patented in 1904. The competitive nature of the banking industry meant that the early banks (particularly those with head offices in other regions) needed to build quickly to capture local business. This prefabricated building has had tumed columns added to present a classical facade to the street. It is a slightly modified version of the Townhouse Series from the B.C. Mills catalogue. It would be interesting to compare this structure with the other original branches of the Northern Bank in British Columbia.

Landscape Significance

Landscape Element

Moncton Streetscape

Design Attributes

The only significant cultural landscape element associated with the ~Steveston Museum building is its place in the development of the Moncton streetscape. Early photographs show little plant material associated with the building, with the exception of native grasses around the boardwalk. The deciduous tree to the west of the building is not significant. It is unlikely that the pocket park to the west was an intentional part of the original streetscape context. The fence is in its original location, but its design and construction are not original.

Integrity

Alterations:The building was raised in 1979 to install a concrete foundation. The paint colour is undoubtedly new.
Original Location: Yes
Lost: No

Condition

The building was restored in 1979 and adapted for re-use as the Steveston Museum. The building is in very good condition, with alterations considered to be minor only.

Documentation

Evaluated By: Denise Cook BLA, PBD (Public History)
Evaluation Date: Monday, September 4, 2000

"Heritage Inventory Phase II" by Foundation Group Designs, May 1989. Inventory sheets by Diana Bodner (Foundation Group), January 1989. Richmond Archives Centennial Collection, item no.197821 2 A History of Canadian Architecture Volume 2 by Harold Kalman, 1994