that the Bank of Butterfield had been given the go-ahead to knock down one of the oldest buildings on Front Street would have a "domino'' effect.

"The Trust desperately wants to save the whole of Front Street,'' Mrs. Patsy Phillips said. "But if one (building) comes down, another might follow and that one might be modern like the others around town. It will be like dominoes.'' Mrs. Phillips added: "You can't guarantee the next architect is going to create a picturesque building. Some of the buildings in Hamilton are horror stories.'' But architects working on the Front Street Bank of Butterfield's expansion plans countered the historic Trader's Gate building next to it is not worth saving.

"There is precious little left of the (Trader's Gate) building,'' said head architect of the bank's redevelopment plans, Mr. Sjur Linberg of Barker and Linberg.

The Development Applications Board gave the bank approval this week to add two stories to its main branch on Front Street to create extra office space.

The bank was also given the go-ahead to knock down the Trader's Gate building and rebuild it several storeys higher.

The Trust is against the bank demolishing the building, which is one of the oldest on Front Street having been built about 1794.

The Trust had pleaded with the bank to restore the Trader's Gate building instead.

But Mr. Linberg said that "makes no sense'' given the state of the building and the fact its floors are on different levels to the bank, making it impossible to merge the two buildings to create extra floor space.

"I am for preservation and conservation of historical buildings,'' he said.

"But I don't think the Trust should try and save just a shell -- it should look at the whole historical value of a building.'' Mr. Linberg said not even the floors of the Trader's Gate building were original.

"The building has been severely altered over the years. Only the shell is left,'' he said.

But Mrs. Phillips said even a shell was worth fighting to keep if it was of historical value. And she said the existing roofline of the building was "beautiful''.

"The Trust does not dispute what the bank is going to put up is going to be very nice, but it will never have the charm of the old building,'' she said.

Mr. Linberg said the bank was going to recreate the original Trader's Gate building and the result would be more traditional than it is now.

He said the striped awning currently shading the street in front of the building would be removed and the traditional balcony and verandah, which was once there, put back.

He said the bank "went to great pains'' to ensure the building would fit in with the rest of Front Street.

"It will, in fact, enhance Front Street with its traditional facade,'' he said.

A shopping arcade is planned for the ground floor of the Trader's Gate building and it will be accessible from the bank's public banking area. He said it would be "very Bermudian in flavour''.

The project, expected to cost several million dollars, is expected to get under way in November and take 18 months to complete. A contract to construct it has not yet been awarded.

FUTURE LOOK -- An architect's drawing of what the Bank of Butterfield on Front Street will look like following multi-million dollar plans to revamp the Trader's Gate building next to it and add two storeys.