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The Toronto Dominion Bank Building at the northeast corner of 1 Street SE and Eighth Avenue, bordered by Olympic Plaza, is a quintessential example of the physical stability and grandeur that financial institutions across the country wanted to reflect in their buildings. The nationwide expansion of banks in the early 20th century spawned a competing array of structures that each employed a sense of rigidity and solidity banks wished to convey to the public.
The 1911-built bank was designed by Winnipeg architect George W. Northwood, who concocted plans for a reinforced concrete and brick edifice partially clad in sandstone and terra cotta tiles, the only bank building in Alberta known to possess a terra cotta facade. The symmetrical front, columns, pilasters, and cornices are all representative of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture, which was ubiquitously used in similar buildings of financial, governmental and commercial persuasion.
The Dominion Bank formed in 1869 and first entered Alberta in 1906 with the opening of a branch in Calgary. Three years later, the Dominion Bank purchased this lot, where the 1911 building served as their Alberta headquarters until its merger with the Bank of Toronto in 1951.
In a 1966 photo from the Calgary Public Library, the building's highly visible entablature makes no room for confusion as to its tenant. Today, the inscription simply reads 'THE DOMINION BANK.' A small glass addition now tops the roof of the building, which houses the Teatro Restaurant.
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