Look for yourself. In the downtown or the old part of town, in some cases there is a bank at every corner.
These are the institutions that financed the growth of the towns and cities in every part of Canada. It stands to reason that they would have the prime business location in every town.

When banks first took those prime business locations, they also took on a responsibility. A responsibility that implied that the bank building on the corner should make the whole town or neighbourhood proud and reflect its good character.

The banks acted with admirable class. They built beautiful structures at these locations.
Bank buildings became the yardstick by which other buildings in a town or neighbourhood were measured. No one could argue that bank buildings reflected the honour and integrity of the institutions that owned them.

Some of these old bank buildings remain as resplendent anchors on the intersections to this day. It is an incredible experience to be in them. They are beautiful. It is humbling to think of the design, the workmanship and the pride that went into erecting these magnificent buildings.

The idea of tearing down any of these wonderful buildings would be heartbreaking. Yet, many of those beautiful buildings have been destroyed in the past few decades. They were torn down by the very people who were in charge of them. They were destroyed by the bankers themselves.

The banks meant well. They hired designers and consulted architects. They built a rash of new buildings with modern new looks. It was all meant to show how these old financial institutions had embraced the new era, a new generation of banks to meet a new generation of business.

Much of this groovy new building activity started back in the ’60s and carried on through the ’70s and 1980s. But the new bank buildings are grossly out of place in the façade of the old character buildings that remain around them. A lot of these new bank buildings are squat and out of place. Many are bunker-looking. Some are surrounded by glass like a fish bowl.

Those daring and avant-garde designs seemed like a good idea at the time. But as time goes on the “new look” bank buildings have become even more out of place than ever. The modern looks they were striving for are unfortunately just plain crass. They are beyond inappropriate. They are wrong. They are out of kilter with their surroundings.

It really wouldn’t be fair to point fingers at bankers and say, “You shouldn’t have done that.” And it wouldn’t be right to ask banks to completely rebuild all these structures.
It would be reasonable, however, to ask that they take some responsibility. These wretched modern structures detract from the charm of many downtown corners in North America. They rob our intersections of character.

In the old days, traditional banks financed the building of our cities and towns. Today they are financing renovations of those same aging houses and buildings.
Old places are being restored with a love and care that reflects back to a time when character and integrity seemed to have a greater meaning.

I would love to see the character that we once associated with the old traditional bank buildings returned. It would be great if the banks might consider some renovations themselves.