This two-storey cream brick and Tyndall stone trimmed building at the northeast corner of Selkirk Avenue and Salter Street in Winnipeg, measuring 25 feet by 60 feet, was designed by local architect Raymond Marwood-Elton Carey. It was built in 1917 by the firm of Carter-Hall-Aldinger at a cost of about $16,000, as a branch for the Union Bank of Canada. The main floor housed the banking hall with a residence for the bank manager on the second floor.
In 1919, a metal storage shed was added inside at a cost of about $1,500. In 1925, when the bank merged with the Royal Bank of Canada, it continued as a branch of the new company. A new concrete and iron vault was added in 1927 at a cost of about $1,400. In 1954, a one storey addition measuring 20 feet by 60 feet, was added to the east side and made to match the appearance of the original building.
It closed about 1979 when the bank opened a new branch on McGregor Street. It has been occupied continuously by Chochy's Pawn & Swap Shop since 1983. A mural on the back wall of the building has paintings of historic Selkirk Avenue including a painting of this building when it was a Royal Bank branch.
Former Royal Bank Building on Selkirk Avenue (March 2022)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Former Royal Bank Building on Selkirk Avenue (March 2025)
Source: Kerrin Asmundson
Back wall mural of the former Royal Bank Building on Selkirk Avenue (October 2023)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.91456, W97.14123
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Raymond Marwood-Elton Carey (1883-1975)
Manitoba Business: Carter-Halls-Aldinger
Manitoba Business: Union Bank of Canada
Manitoba Business: Royal Bank of Canada
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 328/1917, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Building permits for 1917 over half-million,” Manitoba Free Press, 24 May 1917, page 8.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 97/1919, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2624/1927, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Monuments to Finance, Volume II: Early Bank Architecture in Winnipeg, Report of the City of the Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee by David Spector, August 1982.
We thank George Penner and Kerrin Asmundson for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 11 October 2025
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