Toronto Dominion Bank &    Calgary Public Building

A point of interest on the Discover Downtown Calgary GPS-guided audio walking tour.

Press play & listen to the tour audio!

Audio Transcript

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On the right of you is a wide white building called the Toronto Dominion Bank! This building was designed by George W. Northwood in the Beaux-Arts architectural style. This style was popular at the time in many of Canada’s financial institutions and government buildings. A lot of the heavy features of this structure were put in to instill a sense of security in the customers of the bank.

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Although the Dominion Bank was formed in 1869, this actual building was constructed between 1900 and 1914 when there was a large-scale expansion of financial institutions across the country!

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Originally the building was the headquarters of the Dominion Bank in Alberta. However in 1951 the Dominion Bank merged with the Bank of Toronto, giving this building its current name, the Toronto Dominion Bank!

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If you look across this intersection and to the right, you’ll see one of Calgary’s most significant buildings in its history! The Calgary Public Building was completed in 1931 and served as the primary offices in Calgary for the federal government.

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Even before this building was here, between 1894 and 1913, the original Federal Public Building was on this property. The second federal office occupied the Calgary Public Building for a number of decades, officially vacating in 1979. A few years later, the building would reopen as the Calgary Centre for Performing Arts, or as it’s now known today, the Arts Commons!

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The Arts Commons is actually a stop on this tour, so visit that stop to learn more! As of 1996, the Calgary Public Building is protected as a Municipal Historic Resource.

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