The Town of Crossfield will soon enjoy some new digs in an old space, after the municipality purchased the old CIBC building to house its headquarters and council chambers.
The building, located downtown on Railway Street, was originally built in 1924, making it one of the town’s oldest buildings, according to a press release from the municipality.
“It’s a lovely heritage building, and I think having the Town office there will give it new life and purpose,” said Mayor Jo Tennant.
The old brick building housed the CIBC branch until the bank closed its doors in August 2019 due to an increased prevalence of customers banking online through computers or cell phones. The building then sat empty for six months, until the Town and CIBC agreed to turn it into Crossfield’s new town hall.
The process to buy the building began in November 2019, according to Tennant. A purchase agreement was drafted, with CIBC donating the balance of the asking price.
“[We were] basically waiting for the decision-makers at CIBC to meet and make a determination on our offer,” she said. “That always takes time because those decisions are certainly made outside the province, so it takes a little longer than it might if you were buying a house.”
Tennant said the finances of the agreement, which are not yet public, will be published after “all the papers are signed and the keys are handed over.”
The new town hall will house the offices of 14 municipal employees who currently work at the Crossfield United Church, where Town council meetings are also held.
“We’ve kind of outgrown the space that was available there, so we have a few people working in offices in the library, so it will be nice to have a place where everyone fits,” Tennant said.
While the original brick façade will be maintained, Tennant said, the terms of the agreement allow the Town to renovate some of the building to accommodate additional office space.
“Upstairs was mostly used for storage when it was a CIBC bank, so we’ll be making some offices up there,” she said. “There will be some fairly extensive renovations, but the overall feel and character of the bank will remain. I think it will turn out quite lovely.”
The move will be somewhat of a homecoming for Tennant, who worked at the CIBC for a quarter-century from 1974 to 1999.
The Town is currently working on a downtown revitalization initiative, and Tennant said the new town hall will be a feature of the area’s beautification.
“It’s going to be a really eye-catching corner of our main street, when we put up the new logo we’ve decided on,” Tennant said. “It says ‘This is Crossfield’ and has a sunburst on it, and [will be] in the area where the CIBC used to have its name on the sign.”
