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Bank Historical Silhouette

On a power pole in the 100 block of Commercial St., this silhouette features one of the banks in Saltcoats. This brick structure, built in 1906, was owned and operated by the Bank of British North America, then The Bank of Montreal, and finally The Credit Union. There were living quarters above the bank. Another early bank, situated on High Street was the Northern Crown Bank, later taken over by the Royal Bank. The banks provided positions for many local young people over the years. Several would have lifelong employment within the banking system, several holding quite senior positions, especially within the Bank of Montreal. In 1978, local resident Betty Michael became the first woman bank manager in Saskatchewan.

The building was purchased by Brent Klause in 2023 and he and family are in the process of restoring the building. He wrote the following description of the renovations:

The bank interior has undergone several renovations over the years and without the original architectural plan it is often difficult to tell what was on the main floor. We restored the original lobby entrance, which contains two doors, one lead to the Bank proper and one leading to the upstairs suite where the manager would have lived likely without a family. The upstairs is a tidy suite with a kitchen living room and dining room plus a bathroom and laundry room.Sometime later the upper addition on the bank was built likely to house a manager who had a family. The floors upstairs are fir and have been covered by carpet for decades. The upstairs suite is currently rented to locals but the long term plans are for it to be two bedroom Airbnb suite and furnished in 1905 period style with local antique furniture much of it given to me by my paternal grandmother who was a long term resident of Saltcoats. We have completely gutted the main floor of the bank by removing the office partition, opening up a brick sealed rear door to the backyard and removing three layers of ceiling tiles and seven layers of flooring to reveal the original 1905 maple floors. This included pulling approximately 2500 nails. We have left in place the vault simply because it would cost $20000 to remove it. We have added a half bath and a small kitchen to the main floor so that it could be rented commercially as a small bistro or art or spin studio. We managed to acquire and refurbish 18 schoolhouse light fixtures for the main floor which are sympathetic to the era. The basement contained the original 1905 vault which is now a walk in closet. We drywalled the basement , installed and tiled a new bathroom and a new mini kitchen and hung acoustic oak tile panels on the ceiling. The basement has a private side entrance so it can be rented as a small Airbnb unit but you can also access the main floor if you required more space for a family function. The rear of the bank was a heavily gravelled parking lot which has now been fenced , sodded and planted with perennials and a new garden shed completely clad in hardie board. The front of the bank had a steep concrete ramp which we have now removed and replaced and repointed the brick exterior. We have added two wrought iron window boxes to the front windows. We have replaced nearly all the windows and the front door to replicate what it looked like in 1905. Our goal is to return the look to 1905. What you don’t see is the completely redone electrical and plumbing systems which have now been brought up to 2024 standards. The bank now has three kitchens and 2 1/2 bathrooms. Future plans call for the return of the front door canopy and the dentillated metal trim at the top of the building and the flag pole which proudly flew the Union Jack and a concrete front step.