Bank Plans to Revive Williamstown Financial Center
 MountainOne has taken its Main Street property off the market and intends to reopen offices for two of its divisions and lease part of the building. The move eliminates a potential site for a new police station. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The former Williamstown Financial Center on Main Street has come off the market, leaving the town with one less potential site for a new police station.
The president of MountainOne Bank, which owns the site at 296 Main St. (Route 2), said Thursday morning that the North Adams-based bank plans to install a new ATM, new offices for two of its divisions and office space for lease at the property, which has been on the market for some time.
"We have made the decision to take the property off the market," Robert J. Fraser said. "We're repositioning the property."
Fraser said the renovated site will include offices for True North and Coakley, Pierpan, Dolan & Collins, both of which will also maintain offices at 795 Main St., the former Williamstown Savings Bank. He anticipates between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet of office space for lease on the first and second floors of the property. And the bank hopes to reopen the site early next year.
As recently as its last meeting on Sept. 30, the town's Public Safety Building Study Committee planned to explore 296 Main St. as a potential home for the Police Department.
Earlier this year, the committee ruled out the site as suitable for a joint police-fire facility. But with its first choice for a joint site currently on the back-burner, the committee decided to turn its attention back to the former Williamstown Financial Center property.
Fraser said he was approached by committee Chairwoman Jane Patton with a request to study the site, but he had informed both her and Town Manager Peter Fohlin of the bank's intention to take the property off the market.
Fraser added, "I told Ms. Patton that it is unusual for a potential buyer to do due diligence on a property before you have an agreement."
The committee's exploration of the so-called Lehovec property on Main Street stalled over a desire by the estate of Kurt Lehovec that the town pay upfront money before conducting engineering work on the site.
The Fire District in 2013 had a purchase-and-sales agreement in place to purchase the Lehovec site, but its efforts were blocked by voters at two special Fire District meetings at which the expenditure failed to receive the support of two-thirds of the electorate. At the time, one of the chief arguments against the Fire District (a separate town entity) buying the property on its own was the belief that a site could be found — possibly the Lehovec site — to house a combined police and fire facility.
In the aftermath of the second failed special Fire District meeting, the Board of Selectmen and Fire District's Prudential Committee created the Public Safety Building Study Committee, which is chaired by Selectwoman Patton.
Patton said the committee is turning its attention to the former Grand Union building and that the owner has already given permission for the town to look at the structure to see if it would be suitable. The owner will also allow test borings in the soil, which the Lehovec estate has balked at.
Tags: MountainOne, police station, public safety buildings,
