CLINTON, Charles William (1838-1910), a prominent New York City architect, received his first Canadian commission in 1887 when he prepared an elaborate scheme to dismantle and rebuild the former C.P.R. Offices at Place d'Armes in Montreal creating a new 7 storey headquarters for the Imperial Fire & Life Insurance Co., MONTREAL, QUE., 1888 (Montreal Daily Star, 26 Nov. 1887, 1, descrip.; and 7 May 1888, 4, descrip.; C.A.B., i, May 1888, 5; I. Gournay & F. Vanlaethem, Montreal Metropolis 1880-1930, 1998, 157, illus.). A photographic plate of this building, together with a history of the company, appears in the publication called Dominion Illustrated: Special Number Devoted to Montreal, 1891, 46-47. Three years later, he was one of six American architects invited to submit an entry in the 1891 competition for the Montreal Board of Trade Building. The arbitrary exclusion of Canadian architects from the competition caused extensive controversy in the architectural press in Canada and the United States. The entry from Shepley Ruttan & Coolidge of Boston was eventually awarded First Premium. An illustration of Clinton's design appeared in the American Architect & Building News [Boston], xxxii, 18 April 1891, plate illus.
Clinton formed a partnership with William H. Russell (1854-1907) in 1894 and they became well-known for elaborate and fashionable designs for commercial and institutional buildings in New York City. Although Russell died in 1907 Clinton retained the firm name and can be credited with all of the firm's work after that date, including an outstanding Toronto commission for the head office of the Imperial Oil Co. Ltd., Church Street at Court Street, TORONTO, ONT., 1915-16; demol. 1969 (Const., viii, Dec. 1915, 513, illus. & descrip.; x, March 1917, 78-85, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxx, 5 April 1916, 331, illus. & descrip.). This eight storey Italian Renaissance design, clad entirely in Bedford limestone, rivaled the striking design for the Bank of Toronto just two blocks away, planned by another New York firm Carrere & Hastings and completed in 1913. Clinton's scheme was the first building in Toronto to incorporate a skylit gas station with an automobile turntable, and also housed a branch of Royal Bank with a soaring two storey classical banking hall and a deeply coffered ceiling. Clinton later planned a major addition to this structure in 1925 (Toronto b.p. 84548, 2 Oct. 1925). Only a few fragments of the work survive, and are now located in the public garden at the Guild Inn Park in Scarborough (obit. C.W. Clinton, New York Tribune, 2 Dec. 1910, 4; biog. and list of works for C.W. Clinton and W.H. Russell in H. Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, 1956, 126-7, 533-4; MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, i, 426).
Clinton & Russell are also known for their elaborate designs of private mansions on Long Island, N.Y. (Robert MacKay, Anthony Baker & Carol Traynor, Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects 1860-1940, 1997, 110-11, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
MONTREAL, QUE., Board of Trade Building, 1891. This architect was one of six American architects invited to submit a design for this major building, and he received $300 for his effort. (Montreal Daily Star, 25 Feb. 1891, 6, list of competitors). Many Canadian architects strongly objected to being prevented from submitting a design. The winner was Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge of Boston.