A shot of the ground floor banking space in the Metropolitan Building from an ad that was published in 1972. A neat shot of the corner when it was occupied. The last tenant that I can remember was the HSCB bank, that has since moved to the old Krispy Kreme doughnut shop on Howard Ave at the south end of the Roundhouse Plaza.
Interesting to note that that block of Victoria has recently been converted back to two way traffic…
Have a good weekend everyone, see you back here Monday.
I definitely remember it as a Canada Trust branch…and you’re right, later it was HSBC after Canada Trust and TD Bank merged and kept the existing TD branch on the south side of University…alas, subsequently vacated as well.
I was wondering why the sign said Huron & Erie, but then I read Canada Trust’s Wikipedia page and “Huron and Erie Savings and Loan Society” was Canada Trust’s original name. I remember this as an HSBC bank, and that’s it.
Nice Pontiac peeking out of the extreme left.
5% on savings! Those were the days.
This building is roughly 10 floors or so right? Is any of this building occupied or is the entire thing vacant?
I thought I remembered a rumor of condos going in there but I don’t know if anything ever materialized.
If you look closely at the first photograph in this link:
http://internationalmetropolis.com/2008/01/10/smiths-department-store-1954/
You will notice that the building immediately to the right (South) of the Smith Store was the Huron & Erie building. By 1954, according the the store adversisement (first image in the link) it had become part of Smith’s. When was the building at the corner of Victoria and University erected?
The building at the corner of University was erected before 1931. If you click on the link in the article above, it shows a postcard from 1931, but there doesn’t seem to be a bank there. The ground floor facade is also much better looking, and not so slab-sided and devoid of character, as it seems to be in 1972 and still is today.
RobS I think there are condos located on the higher floors but don’t know for certain if their all occupied
That pea-stone covering is a dog’s breakfast. The facade could use some help as would awnings (why are there not more awning downtown??). Too bad because the limestone facade was very nice.