The Flatiron Building in

Lacombe, Alberta Lacombe ( ) is a city in central Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately north of Red Deer, Alberta, Red Deer, the nearest major city, and south of Edmonton, the nearest metropolitan area. The city is set in the rolling parkland of central ...

is the oldest

flatiron building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a 22-story, steel-framed triangular building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinke ...

in the province. It was designed by architects Morley Hogle and Huntley Ward Davis in 1903 and opened for business in 1904. The building served as the Merchants Bank of Canada for many years. For over a century, the famous 'Lacombe flatiron block' was home to many businesses, law offices, and unique shops. Almost one hundred years after the building was erected, it was privately bought and restored as part of the Alberta Main Street Project. Today, this architectural

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

is home to Lacombe Regional Tourism. They offer visitor information, have a local gift shop, and host some information on Lacombe's history.

History of Merchant's Bank and Building

The Merchants Bank of Canada was the first

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

in Lacombe. Formed in 1901, the bank initially rented out a room in a local

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

. Unfortunately, when bank workers arrived to their temporary location, they found it hadn't been fully constructed. In consequence, the bank then rented a room in the local Victoria hotel, where the bank operated shortly for over a week. There is little documentation as to where the bank was located in between the time of the hotel and the opening of its permanent home in the flatiron building. According to "the Merchant Bank (Flat Iron Building) was certainly Lacombe's most sophisticated and commanding structure. Designed in the Beaux Arts tradition of classically-inspired architecture, it cost $30,000 to build in 1904. The design, however, set this structure apart; specific classical features includes the giant order

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

or simulated columns which run through the second and third stories, a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

along the top of the structure and scallop-shaped hood over the main entrance. The three-storey "flatiron" building is unique in the Town of Lacombe and the oldest of three such structures built in western Canada." Fortunately it was built to be fireproof; in 1906 all other buildings on its block were destroyed by a fire. In 1922, the Merchants Bank of Canada was absorbed by the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (, ), abbreviated as BMO (pronounced ), is a Canadian multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank, making it Canada ...

. The Lacombe branch of the Merchants Bank became home to the Bank of Montreal's local branch until 1967. It was designated a

Provincial historic site of Alberta Provincial historic sites of Alberta are museums and historic sites run by the Government of Alberta. Only sites owned by the provincial government and run as a functioning historic site or museum are known as Provincial Historic Sites. Buil ...

in 1990. In 2001, the building was privately bought and extensively renovated. The renovations were completed in 2003. The flatiron building now serves not only as a museum, but also as a private residence and corporate offices.

The Flatiron Building and the Lacombe Museums

The Lacombe and District Historical Society, as the Lacombe Museum, operates on the first three floors of the building. The Lacombe Museum displays temporary and travelling exhibits on the main floor. A gift shop can also be found on this floor. The second floor is home to office space for Lacombe Museum employees.

Plans

In 2022 the Lacombe Museums hoped to move its collections and archives to the basement of the Flatiron Building. This move, and the construction of a reading room in the Flatiron Building, was intended to give the public better access to the museum's archival materials and reference library.

References

{{Reflist *''Lacombe First Century'', Lacombe and District Chamber of Commerce, 1982: 33, 269. Lacombe, Alberta Museums in Alberta Flatiron buildings Historic bank buildings in Canada Buildings and structures in Alberta Provincial Historic Resources of Alberta