Old Canadian Bank of Commerce Building, Montreal, Bank building in Old Montreal, Canada
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building at 265 Saint-Jacques Street is a five-storey Edwardian Baroque structure designed by Darling and Pearson and built in 1906-1909. Its facade is dominated by a monumental hexastyle Corinthian portico carved from grey Stanstead granite from Quebec's Eastern Townships. It is the third major building on the site, after St. James Church and the seven-storey Temple Building.
Built in 1906-1909, the building was the third major structure on this site, replacing the seven-storey Temple Building demolished in 1907. It served as the Canadian Bank of Commerce's main Montreal branch until the 1961 merger with the Imperial Bank of Canada formed CIBC. The bank kept a branch here until selling the building in 2010.
The building's name changed with its uses: it was the Canadian Bank of Commerce branch, then the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce after the 1961 merger, and since 2012 the St. James Theatre, bought by the owners of the Rialto Theatre. The site itself is the third major building there, after St. James Church (1845-1888) and the seven-storey Temple Building (1889-1907).
The building stands at 265 Saint-Jacques Street in Old Montreal, a short walk from Place-d'Armes metro station and Notre-Dame Basilica. The Saint-Jacques entrance is reached on foot; the surrounding streets are paved and level, though sidewalks can be uneven. Look for the six-column granite portico to identify the address among the neighbouring bank facades.
The White Star Line kept its Montreal offices here from 1909 to 1939, and Titanic tickets were sold in this building. The company's Montreal presence ended four years before the line's last ship, the Britannic, was lost in 1916.
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