The building was designed by the American architectural firm of James & James of New York City, and somewhat resembled the appearance of the Flour and Grain Exchange Building in Boston, Massachusetts, which had been designed two years earlier by the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. That Boston firm was also credited with the plans for the Montreal Board of Trade Building.[1] There was considerable controversy about the award of the design contract; the Board of Trade wanted to build a skyscraper like those in New York, Chicago and Boston, and they favoured an American architect over Canadian-based ones, supposedly on the basis of experience with tall buildings. The first design by James & James of New York partially collapsed during construction.[2] James & James were dismissed from the job and Edward A. Kent, an architect from Buffalo, N.Y., was called in to complete the building following the plans of James & James.