The building on the corner
Now known as the Braund Building, this John E. Belcher design has a lot of history
The southwest corner of Hunter and Water is a very storied part of Peterborough’s business section. The corner is covered by a fourstorey building that is flanked by similar looking wings that have the longest building frontages in the old downtown. These buildings, designed by John E. Belcher, one of the town’s leading architects, were built in 1894 and 1895 by the Toronto Real Estate Investment Company. The main building had a frontage of 74 feet on Water St. and 54 feet on Hunter. The building was constructed of Credit Valley stone and pressed brick from Toronto’s Don Valley.
The Commerce Building ’s main tenant was the Peterborough branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. The bank, which occupied a space 30 feet by 60 feet, with a main entrance on Hunter, moved in on July 15, 1895.
The first branch of the Commerce Bank in Peterborough opened in 1870 in the former Croft Hotel, which was kitty corner from the Commerce Building. From 1873 to 1895, the branch was in the Cox Building at the south-west corner of Brock and George.
On Valentine’s Day in 1951, The Peterborough Examiner reported that Max and Noel Rishor, two young brothers, purchased the building for $150,000. At the time, there were 28 tenants in the building, and no vacancies. The property included the Soden and Fiske stores on Hunter Street, and all the stores on Water down to the laneway that enters a courtyard. This laneway leads to the back of the businesses in the Commerce Building, and also to the back part which in 1951 had the Reid’s Transfer, but which now houses the Evans Contemporary art gallery.
The ground floor tenants on the Water Street side were Hopkins’ Motor Sales, three insurance offices, a plumbing firm, the law office of W. F. Huycke, and the accounting firm of McColl and Turner.
In 1951, the second floor had the Carley and Standish law offices; Empire Life; Pierce and Pierce surveyors; two dentists; a dental laboratory; Credit Associates; and the First Church of Christ Scientist. There were six apartments on the third floor, and the Masons occupied the fourth floor, but soon moved to the former Nicholls residence on Rubidge Street.
Before the Commerce Building
The Great Fire of August 11, 1861 destroyed most of the block from Hunter to Simcoe, and from George to Water. The fire began near but north of the laneway in Chartrain’s livery stables. It quickly spread to the Caisse Hotel at this corner, and subsequently across to George and down to Simcoe Street.
Before the 1861 fire, this corner was home to several hotels which rented rooms, mostly on the second floor, and a lobby from the building owner. After the fire, the Caisse Hotel moved to a building on the west side of George. Beginning in 1861, the new Stewart House was run by Hamilton Uin. Subsequently until 1893, the hotels here were run successively by William Chamberlain, by Timothy Cavanagh and by William Kennealy.
The Stewart House Block, which stood from 1861 to 1893, was sold July 21, 1874 by auction. According to the advertisement placed by the auctioneer, Charles Stapleton, the property was about ½ acre, and the building was 43 feet by 56 feet on the main floor, but the hotel ran over four street-level businesses: a barber shop; a saloon; and two saddleries run by Mitchell and Pengelly. The Stewart House hotel also had stables and sheds on the property, as horses and taxis were important to travelers.
There were no buildings along the Water Street side at this time, but the auctioneer advertised that there was room for “another large block of buildings, eligible for shops and offices.”
A map of the property highlighted the presence of the post office on Water St. across from the vacant frontage. In 1880, the Post Office moved to Brock and George, in the new Morrow Building, and in 1886 to the first federal post office building, at Hunter and Water, directly across from the Stewart House.
George A. Cox sold the building in 1886 to the Toronto Real Estate Investment Company, which was known as a Cox company. It planned to refurbish the Stewart House with several stores and to build up the vacant lots on Water Street. John E. Belcher’s plans, the Review noted on May 1, “show a magnificent block of buildings.” All the buildings from Hunter to the Union Block (Mechanics’ Institute) were to be “thoroughly remodeled so as to be in conformity with the new structure on Water Street.” There would be nine stores and “the fronts will be all plate glass, separated by an ornamental iron framework.”
“The second flat windows are all to be ornamented with heavy carved caps and the third flat windows with beautifully finished archivolts. The roof will be a slated mansard one in the French classic style.”
The 1886 plans were not developed, and the Commerce Block built in 1894-5 was of quite different character. The defining architecture of the 1880s had been the Second Empire style captured in the Cluxton Building, the Cox Building and the Morrow Building, each of which dominated George Street intersections. The Commerce Building was clean and modern, with touches of quality and elegance, but in a style that counted on streetscape and presence.
Whenever I am asked which building would be best linked to George A. Cox, this is my choice. It cemented the centre of town, largely because of the long frontages on two streets and a commitment to offices throughout the buildings. Most downtown buildings were built with residences above the stores, but not this one. Cox was president of the Commerce Bank, and so the move from his other main business block at Brock and George recognized his view of how downtown would develop.
In the first years of the Commerce Building, 1895 to 1897, the Canadian Bank of Commerce was the main tenant. Along the Hunter Street side, there was a grocer, a hair dresser, a butcher and a tobacconist: J. Armstrong’s grocery store had entrances on both Hunter and Water. The first offices on this side included a dentist, the Stratton and Hall law firm, and the Peterborough Business College. On the Water Street side, there was a livery, and another grocer and another butcher. One surprising break from the history of this corner: the Commerce Building never had a hotel.
By 1901, the Commerce Building had many more offices, notably for life insurance companies. The Canada Life Assurance, another Cox company, and North American Life and Metropolitan Life were here.
The Commerce Block, also known as the Braund Building, has changed in many ways over the years, and has lost much of its grandeur.
But the building remains an architectural gem, one of John E. Belcher’s best.
Andrew Elliott’s first Examiner column in February 2007 was rightly optimistic about this building. “Today, the lower half of the Commerce Building is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Thanks to city councillors who recently, and wisely, approved the widening of the sidewalk here, others are encouraged to do just what I am doing. As I walk into St. Veronus for a beer, I notice that the bank’s original terrazzo tile flooring is still here, as well as one of the original vaults: I am told that beer is now stored there. Indeed, the whole area of the restaurant has been lovingly restored. Thus, as it suffers from both love and neglect, the Commerce Building is an example of a structure that fosters diversity in the downtown, and is a beautiful corner-piece that any city would be proud to have …”