B of M being evicted from historic building

The federal Public Works department has told the Bank of Montreal to clear out of its historic building on Wellington Street at O'Connor Street by the end of April. Public Works says the grand old bank building will sit empty, and admits it doesn't yet have a new tenant.

The Bank of Montreal building has stood near the entrance to Parliament Hill since the beginning of the Great Depression.

David Jeanes, of Heritage Ottawa, says, "It's most unfortunate. The Bank of Montreal has been located on Wellington Street since about 1842 [in earlier buildings]. [The current building] is one of the best examples of the modern Beaux-Arts style in Ottawa. This is a significant loss."

A spokesperson for the Bank of Montreal says it does not want to leave.

Public Works spokesperson Mario Baril says the building needs extensive renovations to meet undefined parliamentary and government needs.

Baril also says: "You know, they're looking at different options right now. But, since it's a prime location, you know, we're not ... we don't expect that it's going to be any problem to find any tenants in the future."

An empty Bank of Montreal is another blow to Sparks Street, where the bank has an entrance.

The street has already lost a shoe store and other businesses, who left bitter about their federal landlords.