(Additional photographs below.)
Pentucket Bank is planning a grand return to downtown Haverhill sometime next month.
The new bank branch is under construction on the first floor of the new 660-space parking garage at the corner of Main and Merrimack Streets, part of the $160 million District Square redevelopment of the five-acre property by the Lupoli Companies of Lawrence. In addition to the bank and garage, the complex will eventually include 395 apartments, restaurants and retail space.
Bank Senior Vice President, Community and Public Relations Director Leanne M. Eastman told WHAV flooring and furnishings will soon be completed and exterior signs should go up shortly.
“We are very, very excited for our return to the downtown,” Eastman said, “especially now that it is on the horizon.”
She added the new banking office will include two drive-up lanes and a drive-up automatic teller machine, dedicated parking spaces on the first floor of the new garage, safe deposit boxes and a community room which will be available to local organizations planning a training session or strategy meeting. Full financial services including a mortgage representative and a investment guidance will be offered.
Founded in 1891, Pentucket Bank has maintained a presence in Haverhill’s downtown business community since its inception.
In the meantime, city officials said the opening of the garage itself is imminent. Christine Lindberg, chief of staff to Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett, told WHAV city officials are completing arrangements with Lupoli representatives. A sign is posted displaying parking prices—starting at $1.50 per hour with a cap of $11 for 24 hours. It will be operated by LAZ, the same vendor that operates the MeVa garage at the other end of downtown as well as the city’s on-street parking kiosks.
Lindberg added, when the garage opens, the ancillary surface parking lot on Merrimack Street will close to enable the next phase of construction to get underway.
When city officials started discussing replacing the Herbert H. Goecke Jr. Memorial Parking Deck, the bank agreed to sell its corner property to clear the way for a developer to improve the entire corner which spans Merrimack Street and Main Street and up to Bailey Boulevard. In 2023, the bank announced the formal sale of the property to Lawrence developer Salvatore N. Lupoli. The building was demolished a year later.
Pentucket Bank operates two other branches in Haverhill, one at Westgate Plaza and one on Lincoln Avenue opposite Trinity Haverhill Stadium as well as branches in North Andover and Hampstead, and Salem, N.H.
Pentucket Bank branch at White’s Corner, the intersection of Main, Merrimack and Water Streets, nears completion. (WHAV News photograph.)
Pentucket Bank branch at White’s Corner, the intersection of Main, Merrimack and Water Streets, nears completion. (WHAV News photograph.)