How the mighty have fallen

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A fortnight ago we featured the National Bank on the corner of Brice and Victoria streets. This is the same building but now in a state of distress it is obviously being demolished but it's only 60 years old. How world changed in such a short time – what was an impressively adequate and commodious building in 1922 was, by 1980, too small to meet the needs of the burgeoning commerce of the day. A sad fate for a classical building.

It is an interesting demolition method – was the ground floor pushed in somehow – explosives? A bulldozer? At any rate, the ground floor has gone except at the front where the first floor has gone. The front door, always an impressive element in older bank and insurance buildings, remains firmly in place.

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